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113-401: Charles conceived the idea that hydrogen would be a suitable lifting agent for balloons having studied the work of Robert Boyle 's Boyle's Law which was published 100 years earlier in 1662, and of his contemporaries Henry Cavendish , Joseph Black and Tiberius Cavallo . Joseph Black proposed that if the gaseous element filled a balloon, the inflated object could rise up into the air, though

226-611: A Robert Boyle Prize for Analytical Science , named in his honour. The Boyle Medal for Scientific Excellence in Ireland, inaugurated in 1899, is awarded jointly by the Royal Dublin Society and The Irish Times . Launched in 2012, The Robert Boyle Summer School organized by the Waterford Institute of Technology with support from Lismore Castle , is held annually to honor the heritage of Robert Boyle. The following are some of

339-577: A planter from Barbados , in London. In 1763, he was appointed as the last royal governor of New Jersey. A Loyalist to the king, William Franklin saw his relations with father Benjamin eventually break down over their differences about the American Revolutionary War , as Benjamin Franklin could never accept William's position. Deposed in 1776 by the revolutionary government of New Jersey, William

452-624: A Freemason for the rest of his life. At age 17 in 1723, Franklin proposed to 15-year-old Deborah Read while a boarder in the Read home. At that time, Deborah's mother was wary of allowing her young daughter to marry Franklin, who was on his way to London at Governor Keith's request, and also because of his financial instability. Her own husband had recently died, and she declined Franklin's request to marry her daughter. Franklin travelled to London, and after he failed to communicate as expected with Deborah and her family, they interpreted his long silence as

565-730: A French tutor. They visited Italy in 1641 and remained in Florence during the winter of that year studying the "paradoxes of the great star-gazer", the elderly Galileo Galilei . Robert returned to England from continental Europe in mid-1644 with a keen interest in scientific research. His father, Lord Cork , had died the previous year and had left him the manor of Stalbridge in Dorset as well as substantial estates in County Limerick in Ireland that he had acquired. Robert then made his residence at Stalbridge House , between 1644 and 1652, and settled

678-413: A Puritan family that was among the first Pilgrims to flee to Massachusetts for religious freedom , sailing for Boston in 1635 after King Charles I of England had begun persecuting Puritans. Her father Peter was "the sort of rebel destined to transform colonial America." As clerk of the court , he was arrested on February 10, 1676, and jailed on February 19 for his inability to pay bail. He spent over

791-585: A breaking of his promises. At the urging of her mother, Deborah married a potter named John Rogers on August 5, 1725. John soon fled to Barbados with her dowry in order to avoid debts and prosecution. Since Rogers' fate was unknown, bigamy laws prevented Deborah from remarrying. Franklin returned in 1726 and resumed his courtship of Deborah. They established a common-law marriage on September 1, 1730. They took in his recently acknowledged illegitimate young son and raised him in their household. They had two children together. Their son, Francis Folger Franklin ,

904-517: A class for four years, and there would be no religious test for admission. Johnson went on to found King's College (now Columbia University ) in New York City in 1754, while Franklin hired Smith as provost of the College of Philadelphia, which opened in 1755. At its first commencement, on May 17, 1757, seven men graduated; six with a Bachelor of Arts and one with a Master of Arts. It was later merged with

1017-722: A laboratory where he conducted many experiments. From that time, Robert devoted his life to scientific research and soon took a prominent place in the band of enquirers, known as the " Invisible College ", who devoted themselves to the cultivation of the "new philosophy". They met frequently in London, often at Gresham College , and some of the members also had meetings at Oxford . Having made several visits to his Irish estates beginning in 1647, Robert moved to Ireland in 1652 but became frustrated at his inability to make progress in his chemical work. In one letter, he described Ireland as "a barbarous country where chemical spirits were so misunderstood and chemical instruments so unprocurable that it

1130-604: A layman than a paid minister of the Church. Moreover, Boyle incorporated his scientific interests into his theology, believing that natural philosophy could provide powerful evidence for the existence of God. In works such as Disquisition about the Final Causes of Natural Things (1688), for instance, he criticised contemporary philosophers – such as René Descartes – who denied that the study of nature could reveal much about God. Instead, Boyle argued that natural philosophers could use

1243-494: A new start in a new city. When he first arrived, he worked in several printing shops there, but he was not satisfied by the immediate prospects in any of these jobs. After a few months, while working in one printing house, Pennsylvania governor Sir William Keith convinced him to go to London, ostensibly to acquire the equipment necessary for establishing another newspaper in Philadelphia. Discovering that Keith's promises of backing

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1356-629: A newspaper were empty, he worked as a typesetter in a printer's shop in what is the present-day Church of St Bartholomew-the-Great in the Smithfield area of London. Following this, he returned to Philadelphia in 1726 with the help of Thomas Denham , a merchant who employed him as a clerk, shopkeeper, and bookkeeper in his business. In 1727, at age 21, Franklin formed the Junto , a group of "like minded aspiring artisans and tradesmen who hoped to improve themselves while they improved their community." The Junto

1469-530: A patriotic stand in the growing crisis with Great Britain. Franklin's Connecticut Gazette (1755–68), however, proved unsuccessful. As the Revolution approached, political strife slowly tore his network apart. In 1730 or 1731, Franklin was initiated into the local Masonic lodge . He became a grand master in 1734, indicating his rapid rise to prominence in Pennsylvania. The same year, he edited and published

1582-485: A postal system. The report of the committee, providing for the appointment of a postmaster general for the 13 American colonies, was considered by the Continental Congress on July 25 and 26. On July 26, 1775, Franklin was appointed postmaster general, the first appointed under the Continental Congress. His apprentice, William Goddard , felt that his ideas were mostly responsible for shaping the postal system and that

1695-549: A practical demonstration awaited a gas tight balloon material. He designed the hydrogen balloon and then worked in conjunction with the Robert brothers , Anne-Jean and Nicolas-Louis, who were skilled engineers, to build it in their workshop at the Place des Victoires in Paris . The Robert brothers invented the methodology for constructing the lightweight, airtight gas bag. They dissolved rubber in

1808-552: A private tutor, Robert Carew, who had knowledge of Irish , to act as private tutor to his sons in Eton. However, "only Mr. Robert sometimes desires it [Irish] and is a little entered in it", but despite the "many reasons" given by Carew to draw their attention to it, "they practise the French and Latin but they affect not the Irish". After spending over three years at Eton, Robert travelled abroad with

1921-593: A process which he designated by the term "analysis". He further supposed that the elements were ultimately composed of particles of various sorts and sizes, into which, however, they were not to be resolved in any known way. He studied the chemistry of combustion and of respiration , and conducted experiments in physiology , where, however, he was hampered by the "tenderness of his nature" which kept him from anatomical dissections , especially vivisections , though he knew them to be "most instructing". In addition to philosophy, Boyle devoted much time to theology, showing

2034-643: A scheme for the Academy, Charity School, and College of Philadelphia ; however, the person he had in mind to run the academy, Rev. Richard Peters , refused and Franklin put his ideas away until 1749 when he printed his own pamphlet, Proposals Relating to the Education of Youth in Pensilvania. He was appointed president of the Academy on November 13, 1749; the academy and the charity school opened in 1751. In 1743, he founded

2147-553: A scientist and statesman, he habitually signed his letters with the unpretentious 'B. Franklin, Printer.' In 1732, he published the first German-language newspaper in America – Die Philadelphische Zeitung – although it failed after only one year because four other newly founded German papers quickly dominated the newspaper market. Franklin also printed Moravian religious books in German. He often visited Bethlehem, Pennsylvania , staying at

2260-511: A series of lectures that came to be known as the Boyle Lectures . Boyle's great merit as a scientific investigator is that he carried out the principles which Francis Bacon espoused in the Novum Organum . Yet he would not avow himself a follower of Bacon, or indeed of any other teacher. On several occasions, he mentions that to keep his judgment as unprepossessed as might be with any of

2373-481: A ship not to be sunk ", "practicable and certain way of finding longitudes ", "potent drugs to alter or exalt imagination, waking, memory and other functions and appease pain , procure innocent sleep , harmless dreams, etc.". All but a few of the 24 have come true. In 1668 he left Oxford for London where he resided at the house of his elder sister Katherine Jones, Lady Ranelagh , in Pall Mall . He experimented in

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2486-467: A solution of turpentine , with which they varnished stitched-together sheets of silk , to make the main envelope. They used alternating strips of red and white silk, but the discolouration of the varnishing/rubberising process left a red and yellow result. Charles and the Robert brothers constructed an experimental balloon called Le Globe . This was the world's first hydrogen filled balloon . The balloon

2599-456: A very decided leaning to the practical side and an indifference to controversial polemics . At the Restoration of Charles II of England in 1660, he was favourably received at court and in 1665 would have received the provostship of Eton College had he agreed to take holy orders, but this he refused to do on the ground that his writings on religious subjects would have greater weight coming from

2712-422: A wider outlook on the aims of scientific inquiry than had been enjoyed by his predecessors for many centuries. This, however, did not mean that he paid no attention to the practical application of science nor that he despised knowledge which tended to use. Robert Boyle was an alchemist ; and believing the transmutation of metals to be a possibility, he carried out experiments in the hope of achieving it; and he

2825-849: A year and a half in jail. Franklin was born on Milk Street in Boston , Province of Massachusetts Bay on January 17, 1706, and baptized at the Old South Meeting House in Boston. As a child growing up along the Charles River , Franklin recalled that he was "generally the leader among the boys." Franklin's father wanted him to attend school with the clergy but only had enough money to send him to school for two years. He attended Boston Latin School but did not graduate; he continued his education through voracious reading. Although "his parents talked of

2938-636: Is evidently a portrait of his rival, Samuel Keimer . Franklin had mixed success in his plan to establish an inter-colonial network of newspapers that would produce a profit for him and disseminate virtue. Over the years he sponsored two dozen printers in Pennsylvania, South Carolina, New York, Connecticut, and even the Caribbean. By 1753, eight of the fifteen English language newspapers in the colonies were published by him or his partners. He began in Charleston, South Carolina , in 1731. After his second editor died,

3051-431: Is largely regarded today as the first modern chemist, and therefore one of the founders of modern chemistry , and one of the pioneers of modern experimental scientific method . He is best known for Boyle's law , which describes the inversely proportional relationship between the absolute pressure and volume of a gas, if the temperature is kept constant within a closed system . Among his works, The Sceptical Chymist

3164-580: Is seen as a cornerstone book in the field of chemistry. He was a devout and pious Anglican and is noted for his works in theology. Boyle was born at Lismore Castle , in County Waterford , Ireland, the seventh son and fourteenth child of The 1st Earl of Cork ('the Great Earl of Cork') and Catherine Fenton . Lord Cork, then known simply as Richard Boyle, had arrived in Dublin from England in 1588 during

3277-728: The American Philosophical Society to help scientific men discuss their discoveries and theories. He began the electrical research that, along with other scientific inquiries, would occupy him for the rest of his life, in between bouts of politics and moneymaking. During King George's War , Franklin raised a militia called the Association for General Defense because the legislators of the city had decided to take no action to defend Philadelphia "either by erecting fortifications or building Ships of War." He raised money to create earthwork defenses and buy artillery. The largest of these

3390-526: The Christian religion against those he considered "notorious infidels , namely atheists , deists , pagans , Jews and Muslims", with the provision that controversies between Christians were not to be mentioned (see Boyle Lectures ). As a founder of the Royal Society, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1663 . Boyle's law is named in his honour. The Royal Society of Chemistry issues

3503-672: The College of William & Mary , called a "new-model" plan or style of American college. Franklin solicited, printed in 1752, and promoted an American textbook of moral philosophy by Samuel Johnson, titled Elementa Philosophica , to be taught in the new colleges. In June 1753, Johnson, Franklin, and Smith met in Stratford. They decided the new-model college would focus on the professions, with classes taught in English instead of Latin, have subject matter experts as professors instead of one tutor leading

Charlière - Misplaced Pages Continue

3616-564: The Duc de Chartres , held down the craft while both Charles and Nicolas-Louis alighted. Charles then decided to ascend again, but alone this time because the balloon had lost some of its hydrogen. This time it ascended rapidly to an altitude of about 3,000 metres, rising into the sunlight again, so that Charles then saw a second sunset. He began suffering from aching pain in his ears so he 'valved' to release gas, and descended to land gently about 3 km away at Tour du Lay  [ fr ] . And so,

3729-710: The Franklin stove . He founded many civic organizations , including the Library Company , Philadelphia 's first fire department , and the University of Pennsylvania . Franklin earned the title of "The First American" for his early and indefatigable campaigning for colonial unity . He was the only person to sign the Declaration of Independence, Treaty of Paris , peace with Britain and the Constitution . Foundational in defining

3842-559: The High Street at Oxford (now the location of the Shelley Memorial ), marking the spot where Cross Hall stood until the early 19th century. It was here that Boyle rented rooms from the wealthy apothecary who owned the Hall. Reading in 1657 of Otto von Guericke 's air pump, he set himself, with the assistance of Robert Hooke , to devise improvements in its construction. Guericke's air pump

3955-586: The Instructor and made it The Pennsylvania Gazette . The Gazette soon became his characteristic organ, which he freely used for satire, for the play of his wit, even for sheer excess of mischief or of fun. From the first, he had a way of adapting his models to his own uses. The series of essays called " The Busy-Body ," which he wrote for Bradford's American Mercury in 1729, followed the general Addisonian form, already modified to suit homelier conditions. The thrifty Patience, in her busy little shop, complaining of

4068-618: The Moravian Sun Inn . In a 1751 pamphlet on demographic growth and its implications for the Thirteen Colonies, he called the Pennsylvania Germans "Palatine Boors" who could never acquire the "Complexion" of Anglo-American settlers and referred to "Blacks and Tawneys" as weakening the social structure of the colonies. Although he apparently reconsidered shortly thereafter, and the phrases were omitted from all later printings of

4181-495: The Old South Meeting House by Reverend Samuel Willard , and had ten children with her. Benjamin, their eighth child, was Josiah Franklin's fifteenth child overall, and his tenth and final son. Benjamin Franklin's mother, Abiah, was born in Nantucket , Massachusetts Bay Colony , on August 15, 1667, to Peter Folger , a miller and schoolteacher, and his wife, Mary Morrell Folger , a former indentured servant . Mary Folger came from

4294-576: The Tudor plantations of Ireland and obtained an appointment as a deputy escheator . He had amassed enormous wealth and landholdings by the time Robert was born and had been made Earl of Cork in October 1620. Catherine Fenton, Countess of Cork , was the daughter of Sir Geoffrey Fenton , the former Secretary of State for Ireland , who was born in Dublin in 1539, and Alice Weston, the daughter of Robert Weston , who

4407-645: The University of the State of Pennsylvania to become the University of Pennsylvania . The college was to become influential in guiding the founding documents of the United States: in the Continental Congress , for example, over one-third of the college-affiliated men who contributed to the Declaration of Independence between September 4, 1774, and July 4, 1776, were affiliated with the college. In 1754, he headed

4520-405: The semen . Boyle's writings mention that at his time, for "European Eyes", beauty was not measured so much in colour of skin , but in "stature, comely symmetry of the parts of the body, and good features in the face". Various members of the scientific community rejected his views and described them as "disturbing" or "amusing". In his will, Boyle provided money for a series of lectures to defend

4633-413: The 380-cubic-metre, hydrogen-filled balloon. The envelope was fitted with a hydrogen release valve and was covered with a net from which the basket was suspended. Sand ballast was used to control altitude. It is reported that 400,000 spectators witnessed the launch, and that hundreds had paid one crown each to help finance the construction and receive access to a "special enclosure" for a "close-up view" of

Charlière - Misplaced Pages Continue

4746-450: The American ethos, Franklin has been called "the most accomplished American of his age and the most influential in inventing the type of society America would become". His life and legacy of scientific and political achievement, and his status as one of America's most influential Founding Fathers, have seen Franklin honored for more than two centuries after his death on the $ 100 bill and in

4859-526: The British Plantations in America. He used the heraldic badge of the Prince of Wales as the cover illustration. Franklin wrote a letter, " Advice to a Friend on Choosing a Mistress ," dated June 25, 1745, in which he gives advice to a young man about channeling sexual urges. Due to its licentious nature, it was not published in collections of his papers during the 19th century. Federal court rulings from

4972-644: The Loyalist cause, was held in solitary confinement at Litchfield for eight months. When finally released in a prisoner exchange in 1778, he moved to New York City, which was occupied by the British at the time. While in New York City, he became leader of the Board of Associated Loyalists, a quasi-military organization chartered by King George III and headquartered in New York City. They initiated guerrilla forays into New Jersey, southern Connecticut, and New York counties north of

5085-596: The Nature and Necessity of a Paper Currency in 1729, and his printer printed money. He was influential in the more restrained and thus successful monetary experiments in the Middle Colonies, which stopped deflation without causing excessive inflation. In 1766, he made a case for paper money to the British House of Commons . As he matured, Franklin began to concern himself more with public affairs. In 1743, he first devised

5198-806: The Pennsylvania delegation to the Albany Congress . This meeting of several colonies had been requested by the Board of Trade in England to improve relations with the Indians and defense against the French. Franklin proposed a broad Plan of Union for the colonies. While the plan was not adopted, elements of it found their way into the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution . In 1753, Harvard University and Yale awarded him honorary master of arts degrees. In 1756, he

5311-598: The Pennsylvania legislature to establish a hospital. Pennsylvania Hospital was the first hospital in the colonies. In 1752, Franklin organized the Philadelphia Contributionship , the Colonies' first homeowner's insurance company. Between 1750 and 1753, the "educational triumvirate" of Franklin, Samuel Johnson of Stratford, Connecticut , and schoolteacher William Smith built on Franklin's initial scheme and created what Bishop James Madison , president of

5424-688: The Robert brothers launched their new crewed balloon from the Jardin des Tuileries in Paris amid vast crowds and excitement. The balloon was held on ropes and led to its final launch place by four of the leading noblemen in France, the Marechal de Richelieu , Marshal de Biron , the Bailli de Suffren , and the Duke of Chaulnes . Charles was accompanied by Nicolas-Louis Robert as co-pilot of

5537-460: The Royal Society, and advertising his desire to be excused from receiving guests, "unless upon occasions very extraordinary", on Tuesday and Friday forenoon, and Wednesday and Saturday afternoon. In the leisure thus gained he wished to "recruit his spirits, range his papers", and prepare some important chemical investigations which he proposed to leave "as a kind of Hermetic legacy to the studious disciples of that art", but of which he did not make known

5650-536: The appointment should have gone to him, but he graciously conceded it to Franklin, 36 years his senior. Franklin, however, appointed Goddard as Surveyor of the Posts, issued him a signed pass, and directed him to investigate and inspect the various post offices and mail routes as he saw fit. The newly established postal system became the United States Post Office, a system that continues to operate today. From

5763-432: The burning spirits, and Daniel Rees died of his burns two days later." While Franklin did not directly participate in the hazing that led to Rees' death , he knew of the hazing before it turned fatal, and did nothing to stop it. He was criticized for his inaction in The American Weekly Mercury , by his publishing rival Andrew Bradford . Ultimately, "Franklin replied in his own defense in the Gazette. " Franklin remained

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5876-421: The charter of incorporation granted by Charles II of England named Boyle a member of the council. In 1680 he was elected president of the society, but declined the honour from a scruple about oaths. He made a "wish list" of 24 possible inventions which included "the prolongation of life ", the " art of flying ", " perpetual light ", "making armour light and extremely hard", "a ship to sail with all winds, and

5989-421: The church as a career" for Franklin, his schooling ended when he was ten. He worked for his father for a time, and at 12 he became an apprentice to his brother James, a printer, who taught him the printing trade. When Benjamin was 15, James founded The New-England Courant , which was the third newspaper founded in Boston. When denied the chance to write a letter to the paper for publication, Franklin adopted

6102-472: The city. When British troops evacuated from New York, William Franklin left with them and sailed to England. He settled in London, never to return to North America. In the preliminary peace talks in 1782 with Britain, "... Benjamin Franklin insisted that loyalists who had borne arms against the United States would be excluded from this plea (that they be given a general pardon). He was undoubtedly thinking of William Franklin." In 1732, Franklin began to publish

6215-459: The colonial post office. When the lands of New France were ceded to the British under the Treaty of Paris in 1763, the British province of Quebec was created among them, and Franklin saw mail service expanded between Montreal , Trois-Rivières , Quebec City, and New York. For the greater part of his appointment, he lived in England (from 1757 to 1762, and again from 1764 to 1774)—about three-quarters of his term. Eventually, his sympathies for

6328-712: The construction of a printing network based on a chain of partnerships from the Carolinas to New England. He thereby invented the first newspaper chain. It was more than a business venture, for like many publishers he believed that the press had a public-service duty. When he established himself in Philadelphia, shortly before 1730, the town boasted two "wretched little" news sheets, Andrew Bradford 's The American Weekly Mercury and Samuel Keimer 's Universal Instructor in all Arts and Sciences, and Pennsylvania Gazette . This instruction in all arts and sciences consisted of weekly extracts from Chambers's Universal Dictionary . Franklin quickly did away with all of this when he took over

6441-423: The design apparently on display in some parts of nature to demonstrate God's involvement with the world. He also attempted to tackle complex theological questions using methods derived from his scientific practices. In Some Physico-Theological Considerations about the Possibility of the Resurrection (1675), he used a chemical experiment known as the reduction to the pristine state as part of an attempt to demonstrate

6554-480: The disease that subsequently killed him. Deborah wrote to him in November 1769, saying she was ill due to "dissatisfied distress" from his prolonged absence, but he did not return until his business was done. Deborah Read Franklin died of a stroke on December 14, 1774, while Franklin was on an extended mission to Great Britain; he returned in 1775. In 1730, 24-year-old Franklin publicly acknowledged his illegitimate son William and raised him in his household. William

6667-425: The expansive force of freezing water, on specific gravities and refractive powers, on crystals , on electricity, on colour, on hydrostatics , etc. – chemistry was his peculiar and favourite study. His first book on the subject was The Sceptical Chymist , published in 1661, in which he criticised the "experiments whereby vulgar Spagyrists are wont to endeavour to evince their Salt, Sulphur and Mercury to be

6780-428: The first Masonic book in the Americas, a reprint of James Anderson 's Constitutions of the Free-Masons . He was the secretary of St. John's Lodge in Philadelphia from 1735 to 1738. In January 1738, "Franklin appeared as a witness" in a manslaughter trial against two men who killed "a simple-minded apprentice" named Daniel Rees in a fake Masonic initiation gone wrong. One of the men "threw, or accidentally spilled,

6893-409: The first solo flight with a balloon was made with a Charlière. Unlike the Robert brothers, Charles never flew again, although a hydrogen balloon came to be called a Charlière in his honour. Robert Boyle Robert Boyle FRS ( / b ɔɪ l / ; 25 January 1627 – 31 December 1691) was an Anglo-Irish natural philosopher , chemist , physicist , alchemist and inventor. Boyle

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7006-442: The following year he became the publisher of The Pennsylvania Gazette , a newspaper in Philadelphia. The Gazette gave Franklin a forum for agitation about a variety of local reforms and initiatives through printed essays and observations. Over time, his commentary, and his adroit cultivation of a positive image as an industrious and intellectual young man, earned him a great deal of social respect. But even after he achieved fame as

7119-402: The governor , young Franklin took over the newspaper and had Mrs. Dogood proclaim, quoting Cato's Letters , "Without freedom of thought there can be no such thing as wisdom and no such thing as public liberty without freedom of speech." Franklin left his apprenticeship without his brother's permission, and in so doing became a fugitive. At age 17, Franklin ran away to Philadelphia , seeking

7232-440: The hypothesis was Henry Power in 1661. Boyle in 1662 included a reference to a paper written by Power, but mistakenly attributed it to Richard Towneley . In continental Europe, the hypothesis is sometimes attributed to Edme Mariotte , although he did not publish it until 1676 and was probably aware of Boyle's work at the time. In 1663 the Invisible College became The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge , and

7345-640: The laboratory she had in her home and attended her salon of intellectuals interested in the sciences. The siblings maintained "a lifelong intellectual partnership, where brother and sister shared medical remedies, promoted each other's scientific ideas, and edited each other's manuscripts." His contemporaries widely acknowledged Katherine's influence on his work, but later historiographers dropped discussion of her accomplishments and relationship to her brother from their histories. In 1669 his health, never very strong, began to fail seriously and he gradually withdrew from his public engagements, ceasing his communications to

7458-451: The late 1750s, he began arguing against slavery , became an active abolitionist , and promoted the education and integration of African Americans into U.S. society. As a scientist, his studies of electricity made him a major figure in the American Enlightenment and the history of physics . He also charted and named the Gulf Stream current. His numerous important inventions include the lightning rod , bifocals , glass harmonica and

7571-491: The mid-1750s to the mid-1770s, Franklin spent much of his time in London. In 1757, he was sent to England by the Pennsylvania Assembly as a colonial agent to protest against the political influence of the Penn family , the proprietors of the colony . He remained there for five years, striving to end the proprietors' prerogative to overturn legislation from the elected Assembly and their exemption from paying taxes on their land. His lack of influential allies in Whitehall led to

7684-456: The mid-to-late 20th century cited the document as a reason for overturning obscenity laws and against censorship. In 1736, Franklin created the Union Fire Company , one of the first volunteer firefighting companies in America. In the same year, he printed a new currency for New Jersey based on innovative anti- counterfeiting techniques he had devised. Throughout his career, he was an advocate for paper money , publishing A Modest Enquiry into

7797-462: The modern theories of philosophy, until he was "provided of experiments" to help him judge of them. He refrained from any study of the atomical and the Cartesian systems, and even of the Novum Organum itself, though he admits to "transiently consulting" them about a few particulars. Nothing was more alien to his mental temperament than the spinning of hypotheses. He regarded the acquisition of knowledge as an end in itself, and in consequence, he gained

7910-402: The more important of his works: Among his religious and philosophical writings were: Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (January 17, 1706 [ O.S. January 6, 1705]  – April 17, 1790) was an American polymath : a leading writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and political philosopher . Among the most influential intellectuals of his time, Franklin

8023-406: The names of warships , many towns and counties, educational institutions and corporations , as well as in numerous cultural references and a portrait in the Oval Office . His more than 30,000 letters and documents have been collected in The Papers of Benjamin Franklin . Anne Robert Jacques Turgot said of him: "Eripuit fulmen cœlo, mox sceptra tyrannis" ("He snatched lightning from the sky and

8136-438: The nature. His health became still worse in 1691, and he died on 31 December that year, just a week after the death of his sister, Katherine, in whose home he had lived and with whom he had shared scientific pursuits for more than twenty years. Boyle died from paralysis. He was buried in the churchyard of St Martin-in-the-Fields , his funeral sermon being preached by his friend, Bishop Gilbert Burnet . In his will, Boyle endowed

8249-421: The noted Poor Richard's Almanack (with content both original and borrowed) under the pseudonym Richard Saunders, on which much of his popular reputation is based. He frequently wrote under pseudonyms. The first issue published was for the upcoming year, 1733. He had developed a distinct, signature style that was plain, pragmatic and had a sly, soft but self-deprecating tone with declarative sentences. Although it

8362-597: The office until 1753, when he and publisher William Hunter were named deputy postmasters–general of British North America, the first to hold the office. ( Joint appointments were standard at the time, for political reasons.) He was responsible for the British colonies from Pennsylvania north and east, as far as the island of Newfoundland . A post office for local and outgoing mail had been established in Halifax, Nova Scotia , by local stationer Benjamin Leigh, on April 23, 1754, but service

8475-511: The pamphlet, his views may have played a role in his political defeat in 1764. According to Ralph Frasca, Franklin promoted the printing press as a device to instruct colonial Americans in moral virtue. Frasca argues he saw this as a service to God, because he understood moral virtue in terms of actions, thus, doing good provides a service to God. Despite his own moral lapses, Franklin saw himself as uniquely qualified to instruct Americans in morality. He tried to influence American moral life through

8588-578: The physical possibility of the resurrection of the body . Throughout his career, Boyle tried to show that science could lend support to Christianity. As a director of the East India Company he spent large sums in promoting the spread of Christianity in the East, contributing liberally to missionary societies and to the expenses of translating the Bible or portions of it into various languages. Boyle supported

8701-584: The policy that the Bible should be available in the vernacular language of the people. An Irish language version of the New Testament was published in 1602 but was rare in Boyle's adult life. In 1680–85 Boyle personally financed the printing of the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, in Irish. In this respect, Boyle's attitude to the Irish language differed from the Protestant Ascendancy class in Ireland at

8814-627: The pseudonym "Richard Saunders". After 1767, he was associated with the Pennsylvania Chronicle , a newspaper known for its revolutionary sentiments and criticisms of the policies of the British Parliament and the Crown . He pioneered and was the first president of the Academy and College of Philadelphia , which opened in 1751 and later became the University of Pennsylvania. He organized and

8927-518: The pseudonym of " Silence Dogood ," a middle-aged widow. Mrs. Dogood's letters were published and became a subject of conversation around town. Neither James nor the Courant 's readers were aware of the ruse, and James was unhappy with Benjamin when he discovered the popular correspondent was his younger brother. Franklin was an advocate of free speech from an early age. When his brother was jailed for three weeks in 1722 for publishing material unflattering to

9040-636: The rebel cause in the American Revolution led to his dismissal on January 31, 1774. On July 26, 1775, the Second Continental Congress established the United States Post Office and named Franklin as the first United States postmaster general . He had been a postmaster for decades and was a natural choice for the position. He had just returned from England and was appointed chairman of a Committee of Investigation to establish

9153-603: The repeal of the unpopular Stamp Act by the British Parliament. An accomplished diplomat, he was widely admired as the first U.S. ambassador to France and was a major figure in the development of positive Franco–American relations . His efforts proved vital in securing French aid for the American Revolution . From 1785 to 1788, he served as President of Pennsylvania . At some points in his life, he owned slaves and ran "for sale" ads for slaves in his newspaper, but by

9266-522: The reportedly terrified local peasants attacked it with pitchforks or knives and destroyed the "monster from the heavens". The project was funded by a subscription organised by Barthélemy Faujas de Saint-Fond . The first manned gas balloon ride with a Charlière then took place on December 1, 1783. It is not known if this balloon was given a name. The production of the necessary hydrogen gas made of iron shavings and sulfuric acid lasted almost three days. At 13:45 (1:45 PM) on 1 December 1783, Charles and

9379-727: The scepter from tyrants"). Benjamin Franklin's father, Josiah Franklin , was a tallow chandler , soaper , and candlemaker . Josiah Franklin was born at Ecton, Northamptonshire , England, on December 23, 1657, the son of Thomas Franklin, a blacksmith and farmer, and his wife, Jane White. Benjamin's father and all four of his grandparents were born in England. Josiah Franklin had a total of seventeen children with his two wives. He married his first wife, Anne Child, in about 1677 in Ecton and emigrated with her to Boston in 1683; they had three children before emigration and four after. Following her death, Josiah married Abiah Folger on July 9, 1689, in

9492-425: The take-off. Among the "special enclosure" crowd was Benjamin Franklin (when someone asked him what purpose of this new invention had, he replied with the counter question: "What Is The Good of a Newborn Baby?"). Also present was Joseph Montgolfier, whom Charles honoured by asking him to release the small, bright green, pilot balloon to assess the wind and weather conditions. This event took place only ten days after

9605-505: The temperature of the air, making this not only the first manned hydrogen balloon flight but also the first balloon flight to provide meteorological measurements of the atmosphere above the Earth's surface. They ascended to a height of about 1,800 feet (550 m) and landed at sunset in Nesles-la-Vallée after a 2-hour, 5-minute flight covering 36 km. The chasers on horseback, who were led by

9718-446: The theories of Robert Hooke and Isaac Newton about colour and light via optical projection (in physics ) into discourses of polygenesis , speculating that maybe these differences were due to " seminal impressions". Taking this into account, it might be considered that he envisioned a good explanation for complexion at his time, due to the fact that now we know that skin colour is disposed by genes , which are actually contained in

9831-598: The time, which was generally hostile to the language and largely opposed the use of Irish (not only as a language of religious worship). Boyle also had a monogenist perspective about race origin. He was a pioneer in studying races, and he believed that all human beings, no matter how diverse their physical differences, came from the same source: Adam and Eve . He studied reported stories of parents giving birth to different coloured albinos , so he concluded that Adam and Eve were originally white and that Caucasians could give birth to different coloured races. Boyle also extended

9944-573: The title New Experiments Physico-Mechanical, Touching the Spring of the Air, and its Effects . Among the critics of the views put forward in this book was a Jesuit , Francis Line (1595–1675), and it was while answering his objections that Boyle made his first mention of the law that the volume of a gas varies inversely to the pressure of the gas, which among English-speaking people is usually called Boyle's Law after his name. The person who originally formulated

10057-399: The true Principles of Things." For him chemistry was the science of the composition of substances, not merely an adjunct to the arts of the alchemist or the physician. He endorsed the view of elements as the undecomposable constituents of material bodies; and made the distinction between mixtures and compounds . He made considerable progress in the technique of detecting their ingredients,

10170-467: The useless visitors who waste her valuable time, is related to the women who address Mr. Spectator. The Busy-Body himself is a true Censor Morum, as Isaac Bickerstaff had been in the Tatler . And a number of the fictitious characters, Ridentius, Eugenius, Cato, and Cretico, represent traditional 18th-century classicism. Even this Franklin could use for contemporary satire, since Cretico, the "sowre Philosopher,"

10283-404: The whole. This did not suffice, however. Franklin conceived the idea of a subscription library , which would pool the funds of the members to buy books for all to read. This was the birth of the Library Company of Philadelphia , whose charter he composed in 1731. Upon Denham's death, Franklin returned to his former trade. In 1728, he set up a printing house in partnership with Hugh Meredith ;

10396-569: The widow, Elizabeth Timothy , took over and made it a success. She was one of the colonial era's first woman printers. For three decades Franklin maintained a close business relationship with her and her son Peter Timothy , who took over the South Carolina Gazette in 1746. The Gazette was impartial in political debates, while creating the opportunity for public debate, which encouraged others to challenge authority. Timothy avoided blandness and crude bias and, after 1765, increasingly took

10509-453: The world's first manned balloon flight by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier using a Montgolfier brothers hot air balloon . Simon Schama wrote in Citizens : Montgolfier's principal scientific collaborator was M. Charles, ... who had been the first to propose the gas produced by vitriol instead of the burning, dampened straw and wood that he had used in earlier flights. Charles himself

10622-555: Was a discussion group for issues of the day; it subsequently gave rise to many organizations in Philadelphia. The Junto was modeled after English coffeehouses that Franklin knew well and which had become the center of the spread of Enlightenment ideas in Britain. Reading was a great pastime of the Junto, but books were rare and expensive. The members created a library, initially assembled from their own books, after Franklin wrote: A proposition

10735-460: Was also eager to ascend but had run into a firm veto from the King , who from the earliest reports had been observing the progress of the flights with keen attentiveness. Anxious about the perils of a maiden flight, the King had then proposed that two criminals be sent up in a basket, at which Charles and his colleagues became indignant. They carried a barometer and a thermometer to measure the pressure and

10848-547: Was awarded an honorary Master of Arts degree from the College of William & Mary . Later in 1756, Franklin organized the Pennsylvania Militia . He used Tun Tavern as a gathering place to recruit a regiment of soldiers to go into battle against the Native American uprisings that beset the American colonies. Well known as a printer and publisher, Franklin was appointed postmaster of Philadelphia in 1737, holding

10961-521: Was born in Lismore in 1541. As a child, Boyle was raised by a wet nurse , as were his elder brothers. Boyle received private tutoring in Latin, Greek, and French and when he was eight years old, following the death of his mother, he, and his brother Francis, were sent to Eton College in England. His father's friend, Sir Henry Wotton , was then the provost of the college. During this time, his father hired

11074-429: Was born in October 1732 and died of smallpox in 1736. Their daughter, Sarah "Sally" Franklin , was born in 1743 and eventually married Richard Bache . Deborah's fear of the sea meant that she never accompanied Franklin on any of his extended trips to Europe; another possible reason why they spent much time apart is that he may have blamed her for possibly preventing their son Francis from being inoculated against

11187-445: Was born on February 22, 1730, but his mother's identity is unknown. He was educated in Philadelphia and beginning at about age 30 studied law in London in the early 1760s. William himself fathered an illegitimate son, William Temple Franklin , born on the same day and month: February 22, 1760. The boy's mother was never identified, and he was placed in foster care. In 1762, the elder William Franklin married Elizabeth Downes, daughter of

11300-435: Was comparatively small, a 35 cubic metre sphere (with a diameter of around 4 metres) of rubberised silk, and only capable of lifting about 9 kg (20 lb). They began filling it on 23 August 1783, in their workshop. It was filled with hydrogen that had been made by pouring nearly a quarter of a tonne of sulphuric acid onto a half a tonne of scrap iron. The hydrogen gas was fed into the envelope via lead pipes; but as it

11413-533: Was hard to have any Hermetic thoughts in it." All Souls , Oxford University shows the arms of Boyle's family in colonnade of the Great Quadrangle, opposite the arms of the Hill family of Shropshire , close by a sundial designed by Boyle's friend Christopher Wren . In 1654, Boyle left Ireland for Oxford to pursue his work more successfully. An inscription can be found on the wall of University College, Oxford ,

11526-506: Was instrumental in obtaining the repeal, by the Royal Mines Act 1688 ( 1 Will. & Mar. c. 30), of the statute of Henry IV against multiplying gold and silver, the Gold and Silver Act 1403 ( 5 Hen. 4 . c. 4). With all the important work he accomplished in physics – the enunciation of Boyle's law , the discovery of the part taken by air in the propagation of sound, and investigations on

11639-522: Was irregular. Franklin opened the first post office to offer regular, monthly mail in Halifax on December 9, 1755. Meantime, Hunter became postal administrator in Williamsburg, Virginia , and oversaw areas south of Annapolis, Maryland . Franklin reorganized the service's accounting system and improved speed of delivery between Philadelphia, New York, and Boston. By 1761, efficiencies led to the first profits for

11752-413: Was large and required "the continual labour of two strong men for divers hours", and Boyle constructed one that could be operated conveniently on a desktop. With the result, the "machina Boyleana" or "Pneumatical Engine", finished in 1659, he began a series of experiments on the properties of air and coined the term factitious airs . An account of Boyle's work with the air pump was published in 1660 under

11865-572: Was launched on 27 August 1783, from the Champ de Mars, where the diplomatic representative of the United States of America in France , Benjamin Franklin was among the crowd of onlookers. It carried no passengers or cargo. The balloon flew northwards for 45 minutes, pursued by chasers on horseback, and landed 21 kilometres away in the village of Gonesse (not far from today's Charles de Gaulle Airport ) where

11978-440: Was made by me that since our books were often referr'd to in our disquisitions upon the inquiries, it might be convenient for us to have them altogether where we met, that upon occasion they might be consulted; and by thus clubbing our books to a common library, we should, while we lik'd to keep them together, have each of us the advantage of using the books of all the other members, which would be nearly as beneficial as if each owned

12091-611: Was no secret that he was the author, his Richard Saunders character repeatedly denied it. "Poor Richard's Proverbs," adages from this almanac, such as "A penny saved is twopence dear" (often misquoted as "A penny saved is a penny earned") and "Fish and visitors stink in three days," remain common quotations in the modern world. Wisdom in folk society meant the ability to provide an apt adage for any occasion, and his readers became well prepared. He sold about ten thousand copies per year—it became an institution. In 1741, Franklin began publishing The General Magazine and Historical Chronicle for all

12204-539: Was not passed through cold water, great difficulty was experienced in filling the balloon completely (the gas was hot when produced, but as it cooled in the balloon, it contracted). Daily progress bulletins were issued on the inflation, attracting a crowd that became so great that on the 26th the balloon was moved secretly by night to the Champ de Mars (now the site of the Eiffel Tower ), a distance of four kilometres. Le Globe

12317-581: Was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States ; a drafter and signer of the Declaration of Independence ; and the first postmaster general . Franklin became a successful newspaper editor and printer in Philadelphia, the leading city in the colonies, publishing the Pennsylvania Gazette at age 23. He became wealthy publishing this and Poor Richard's Almanack , which he wrote under

12430-667: Was placed under house arrest at his home in Perth Amboy for six months. After the Declaration of Independence , he was formally taken into custody by order of the Provincial Congress of New Jersey , an entity which he refused to recognize, regarding it as an "illegal assembly." He was incarcerated in Connecticut for two years, in Wallingford and Middletown , and, after being caught surreptitiously engaging Americans into supporting

12543-521: Was selected as a councilman; in June 1749, he became a justice of the peace for Philadelphia; and in 1751, he was elected to the Pennsylvania Assembly. On August 10, 1753, he was appointed deputy postmaster-general of British North America . His service in domestic politics included reforming the postal system, with mail sent out every week. In 1751, Franklin and Thomas Bond obtained a charter from

12656-510: Was the "Association Battery" or "Grand Battery" of 50 guns. In 1747, Franklin (already a very wealthy man) retired from printing and went into other businesses. He formed a partnership with his foreman, David Hall , which provided Franklin with half of the shop's profits for 18 years. This lucrative business arrangement provided leisure time for study, and in a few years he had made many new discoveries. Franklin became involved in Philadelphia politics and rapidly progressed. In October 1748, he

12769-467: Was the first secretary of the American Philosophical Society and was elected its president in 1769. He was appointed deputy postmaster-general for the British colonies in 1753, which enabled him to set up the first national communications network. He was active in community affairs and colonial and state politics, as well as national and international affairs. Franklin became a hero in America when, as an agent in London for several colonies, he spearheaded

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