written by Robert Morse
published by the Wright Center for Science Education Tufts University

This resource integrates historical documents and drawings to explore Benjamin Franklin's experiments using lightning rods.  It includes a translation of a 1752 experiment conducted in France, full text of Franklin's letters on the subject, and historic journal articles describing how to use lightning rods to protect buildings.  It is part of a larger collection by the author, where related activities for the modern physical science classroom are also available.

• Download 07_Franklin_Lab_Part_VII.pdf - 751kb Adobe PDF Document

Released under a © 2004 Robert A. Morse, Wright Center for Science Education, Tufts University, Medford, MA. Quotes from Franklin and others are in the public domain, as are images labeled public domain. These materials may be reproduced freely for educational and individual use and extracts may be used with acknowledgement and a copy of this notice.These materials may not be reproduced for commercial use or otherwise sold without permission from the copyright holder.

Published September 1, 2004
Last Modified January 9, 2012

This file has previous versions.