You are familiar with Ben Franklin
on the 100 dollar bill, but there is a lot more to the man. He was a statesman, a scientist, an inventor,
and an author. Ben was born on January
17, 1706 in Boston, Massachusetts and dies on April 17, 1790. In those 84
years, he accomplished a lot in his life time.
After his death, 224 years ago, Benjamin Franklin’s inventions are still use today in one form or another. Some of his inventions included the bifocal eyeglasses, odometer, urinary catheter, long arm, lightning rod, and electricity.
Bifocal Glasses
Ben was both far sighted and near sighted; therefore, he had two spectacles. He was aggravated with switching his spectacles when he wanted to read and then when he wanted to see in the distance. So he decided to cut both lenses of his spectacles in half and put them together in one frame, he referred to it as “double spectacles”. The upper portions of the spectacles were for distance and the lower portion of the spectacles were for reading. Ben can now look down to read and also look up to see in the distance. There are several different types of bifocals today because Ben Franklin took a practical approach and wanted to fix a problem to make his life easier. There are four types of bifocals: split bifocals, cemented bifocals, fused bifocal, and one-piece bifocal. Split bifocals are two pieces screwed together and placed in a metal rim. Cemented bifocals uses adhesive to bond segment to main lens. Fused bifocal is small piece of high-index glass fused to the front part of the lens, no longer used since the introduction of plastic. One-piece bifocal, most common, are made from either plastic or glass and the surface is sanded with different curvatures.
Odometer
Ben wanted to standardize and streamline mail delivery. He also wanted to speed up communication between the colonies, so he track the distance between Philadelphia and Boston postal offices. He put a geared device on the wheel of the carriage. The carriage wheel had a circumference of 13 1/5, so the device would click ahead a mile after every 400 revolutions. This odometer was a series of cogs and wheels that measured distance. On the top is a flat metal plate that has a series of three circles. The left circle had a T above it and had numbers from 10 to 1 running counterclockwise around the circle. The center circle had numbers 100 to 10 running counterclockwise, in increments of 10. The right circle had H above it and had numbers 10 to 1 running clockwise. Odometers are now electronic and more accurate then Benjamin franklin’s own. The odometer is used to measure speed and distance in moving vehicle, for example car, boat, trains, and planes.
Urinary Catheter
Ben’s older brother, John, had kidney stone and he wanted to alleviate John’s pain. Ben decided to invent a flexible urinary catheter because they were made of a rigid metal tube at that time. The catheter drained urine from the bladder.
"It is as flexible as would be expected in a thing of the kind, and I imagine will readily comply
with the turns of the passage," he wrote to John.
There are two types of catheter used today: an indwelling catheter stays in your bladder for a long period of time and intermittent catheter is inserted to drain the bladder and then removed. Catheters are inserted into the bladder by the way of the urethra, with the help of lubricating jelly and local anesthetic which provide numbness to the opening of the urethra. Today, you can buy a catheter and do it yourself called clean intermittent self-catheterization (CISC).
Long Arm
Reaching books on high shelves was a challenge for Ben Franklin, in 1786, so out of necessity; he invented the “long arm”. Ben’s home had bookshelves from floor to ceiling, so he needed a way to reaching them. The long arm is a wooden pole with a grasping claw at the end. Today’s long arms have not changed except it available in plastic. This simple device helps people to reach lots of other things.
Lightning Rod
Ben wanted to solve the problem of lightning hitting the ships, tall structures, and churches. The churches would put metal bell in the towers and they would attract lightning. Ben placed a lightning rod on his house to test his theory. He fixed the rod on top of his chimney and the rod extended nine feet above. It was connected to a bell and the second bell was connected to a grounded wire. When there was an electrical storm, the bells would ring and sparks would light up the house. Lightning rods attract lightning; they provide a low resistance pathway to the ground, so when lightning strikes, the rod conduct enormous electrical currents. In order for a lightning rod to work, it has to be an excellent conductor; the lightning rod allows the current to flow to the ground so it does not cause massive heat damage. Today, lightning rod protects building and ships from lightning damage. Lightning rods are approximately 2cm in diameter and connected to a large piece of copper or aluminum which leads to a wire that is connected to a conductive grid buried under ground.
Electricity
Ben went out into a rain storm with his son. He tied a kite to a wet silk thread and flew the kite in the rain storm towards the clouds. At the end of the thread were a key and a Leyden jar. He collected the charge for the lighting into a battery. Ben did not invent electricity but saw that electricity is composed of a common element called electric fire, which is fluid and never destroyed. Single fluid theory is the basis of Franklin’s work, which is electricity flows from a positive body and negative body: for example batteries, which have plus and minus signs on its terminals. Ben Franklin wrote;
"I feel a Want of Terms here and doubt much whether I shall be able to make this intelligible."
Electrical terms Ben Franklin coined are still in use today: battery, charge, conductor, armature, condenser, positively, negatively, plus, and minus.
Mr. Ben Franklin seems to make lots of inventions to make his life easier, simple, and practical. In all aspects of his life, whether it was a statesman, scientist, inventor, and author, everyone has touched something that was influenced by Ben Franklin.
After his death, 224 years ago, Benjamin Franklin’s inventions are still use today in one form or another. Some of his inventions included the bifocal eyeglasses, odometer, urinary catheter, long arm, lightning rod, and electricity.
Bifocal Glasses
Ben was both far sighted and near sighted; therefore, he had two spectacles. He was aggravated with switching his spectacles when he wanted to read and then when he wanted to see in the distance. So he decided to cut both lenses of his spectacles in half and put them together in one frame, he referred to it as “double spectacles”. The upper portions of the spectacles were for distance and the lower portion of the spectacles were for reading. Ben can now look down to read and also look up to see in the distance. There are several different types of bifocals today because Ben Franklin took a practical approach and wanted to fix a problem to make his life easier. There are four types of bifocals: split bifocals, cemented bifocals, fused bifocal, and one-piece bifocal. Split bifocals are two pieces screwed together and placed in a metal rim. Cemented bifocals uses adhesive to bond segment to main lens. Fused bifocal is small piece of high-index glass fused to the front part of the lens, no longer used since the introduction of plastic. One-piece bifocal, most common, are made from either plastic or glass and the surface is sanded with different curvatures.
Odometer
Ben wanted to standardize and streamline mail delivery. He also wanted to speed up communication between the colonies, so he track the distance between Philadelphia and Boston postal offices. He put a geared device on the wheel of the carriage. The carriage wheel had a circumference of 13 1/5, so the device would click ahead a mile after every 400 revolutions. This odometer was a series of cogs and wheels that measured distance. On the top is a flat metal plate that has a series of three circles. The left circle had a T above it and had numbers from 10 to 1 running counterclockwise around the circle. The center circle had numbers 100 to 10 running counterclockwise, in increments of 10. The right circle had H above it and had numbers 10 to 1 running clockwise. Odometers are now electronic and more accurate then Benjamin franklin’s own. The odometer is used to measure speed and distance in moving vehicle, for example car, boat, trains, and planes.
Urinary Catheter
Ben’s older brother, John, had kidney stone and he wanted to alleviate John’s pain. Ben decided to invent a flexible urinary catheter because they were made of a rigid metal tube at that time. The catheter drained urine from the bladder.
"It is as flexible as would be expected in a thing of the kind, and I imagine will readily comply
with the turns of the passage," he wrote to John.
There are two types of catheter used today: an indwelling catheter stays in your bladder for a long period of time and intermittent catheter is inserted to drain the bladder and then removed. Catheters are inserted into the bladder by the way of the urethra, with the help of lubricating jelly and local anesthetic which provide numbness to the opening of the urethra. Today, you can buy a catheter and do it yourself called clean intermittent self-catheterization (CISC).
Long Arm
Reaching books on high shelves was a challenge for Ben Franklin, in 1786, so out of necessity; he invented the “long arm”. Ben’s home had bookshelves from floor to ceiling, so he needed a way to reaching them. The long arm is a wooden pole with a grasping claw at the end. Today’s long arms have not changed except it available in plastic. This simple device helps people to reach lots of other things.
Lightning Rod
Ben wanted to solve the problem of lightning hitting the ships, tall structures, and churches. The churches would put metal bell in the towers and they would attract lightning. Ben placed a lightning rod on his house to test his theory. He fixed the rod on top of his chimney and the rod extended nine feet above. It was connected to a bell and the second bell was connected to a grounded wire. When there was an electrical storm, the bells would ring and sparks would light up the house. Lightning rods attract lightning; they provide a low resistance pathway to the ground, so when lightning strikes, the rod conduct enormous electrical currents. In order for a lightning rod to work, it has to be an excellent conductor; the lightning rod allows the current to flow to the ground so it does not cause massive heat damage. Today, lightning rod protects building and ships from lightning damage. Lightning rods are approximately 2cm in diameter and connected to a large piece of copper or aluminum which leads to a wire that is connected to a conductive grid buried under ground.
Electricity
Ben went out into a rain storm with his son. He tied a kite to a wet silk thread and flew the kite in the rain storm towards the clouds. At the end of the thread were a key and a Leyden jar. He collected the charge for the lighting into a battery. Ben did not invent electricity but saw that electricity is composed of a common element called electric fire, which is fluid and never destroyed. Single fluid theory is the basis of Franklin’s work, which is electricity flows from a positive body and negative body: for example batteries, which have plus and minus signs on its terminals. Ben Franklin wrote;
"I feel a Want of Terms here and doubt much whether I shall be able to make this intelligible."
Electrical terms Ben Franklin coined are still in use today: battery, charge, conductor, armature, condenser, positively, negatively, plus, and minus.
Mr. Ben Franklin seems to make lots of inventions to make his life easier, simple, and practical. In all aspects of his life, whether it was a statesman, scientist, inventor, and author, everyone has touched something that was influenced by Ben Franklin.