The Ingenious Dr. Franklin: Selected Scientific Letters of Benjamin Franklin (Pennsylvania Paperbacks) [Paperback]

Nathan G. Goodman (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0812210670 | ISBN-13: 978-0812210675 | Publication Date: October 1, 1974 | Edition: Reprint

The Ingenious Dr. Franklin, an outstanding collection of Benjamin Franklin's scientific correspondence, has long been unavailable yet deserves a place beside his Autobiography as essential reading for everyone interested in history, wit, and invention. Portioned into three sections, "Practical Schemes and Suggestions," "Diverse Experiments and Observations," and "Scientific Deductions and Conjectures," these letters discuss an extraordinary range of topics, including the art of procuring pleasant dreams, choosing eye glasses, the first human flight, the character of clouds, the behavior of oil and water, smallpox and cancer, the cause of colds, charting the Gulf Stream, and prehistoric animals of the Ohio. Culled from ponderous volumes of collected works or private collections, these engaging and unabridged letters were assembled to allow readers to discover for themselves Benjamin Franklin's vigorous personality, his humanity, and his penetrating intelligence.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This book crackles with his wonderful mental energy."—Walter Isaacson

"Dr. Franklin's own excited, uproariously witty reports to his family, his friends, and his scientific colleagues in Europe and America create an incomparable portrait of science in the eighteenth century. Reading these letters fosters a new affection for our country's foremost and most beloved inventor."—Dava Sobel, author of Longitude and Galileo's Daughter

"This marvelous collection helps rescue Ben Franklin from our impression of him as a genial tinkerer flying kites in the rain. In fact, he was a serious scientist whose letters reveal the scope of his ideas, ranging from daylight savings time to bifocals to magnetism. This book crackles with his wonderful mental energy."—Walter Isaacson, managing editor of Time

About the Author

Nathan G. Goodman is the author of Benjamin Rush, Physician and Citizen, 1746-1813, also published by the University of Pennsylvania Press.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press; Reprint edition (October 1, 1974)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812210670
• ISBN-13: 978-0812210675
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,862,181 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Letters from a true genius and one of the most accomplished men of all time, May 8, 2010

By 

Charles Ashbacher (Marion, Iowa United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Ingenious Dr. Franklin: Selected Scientific Letters of Benjamin Franklin (Pennsylvania Paperbacks) (Paperback)

My greatest hero of all time is Leonardo Da Vinci for the tremendous breadth and depth of his accomplishments. However, one thing that Da Vinci was not was a government figure and expert diplomat, one of the greatest accomplishments of Benjamin Franklin. As can be seen from the content of these letters, the breadth and depth of Franklin's interests in science were extraordinary. Among other things, he wrote about electricity, the effect of oil on water, his inventions of the stove and bifocals, currents in the ocean, the structure of tornadoes, hot air balloons and the propagation of sound.
Franklin's curiosity was immense, there seems to be nothing that fell beyond his blanket of interest. He was also very learned; many of the letters are a response to a scientific paper that he read. It is clear from their content that Franklin thought deeply about the subjects and was able to express himself very well. While Leonardo Da Vinci will always remain number one on my list of heroes, Benjamin Franklin is one of the few people that could mount a realistic challenge to that position. As you can see from this collection of his correspondence, he was an amazing man and the United States was very lucky to have had him when the country was being created.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating glimpse into Franklin's brilliance, April 12, 2009

By 

Nelson Aspen "Author/Journalist" (Los Angeles & NYC, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ingenious Dr. Franklin: Selected Scientific Letters of Benjamin Franklin (Pennsylvania Paperbacks) (Paperback)

This marvelous collection of science-themed letters written by Benjamin Franklin will surely dazzle the contemporary reader with their insight & ingenuity. What a brilliant, ahead-of-his-time genius was this man!

I think the Amazon asking price seems a bit high for this paperback, and one could probably find this same collection online to peruse. However, I'm glad I own a copy. It was great fun to read his thoughts on so many scientific principles that still intrigue us today.