Benjamin Franklin's Self-Guided Tour 2005

Franklin believed in learning by doing. He used the scientific method as his guide for observing, experimenting, and hypothesizing. He was famous for his curiosity and asked a lot of questions. Franklin went out and answered his questions by observing and experimenting. His experimentation led to many important inventions!

START your tour in the Benjamin Franklin National Memorial located on the 2nd floor of the Science Center.

MEMORIAL
The Benjamin Franklin Memorial Hall opened in 1938. Later, as part of the bicentennial celebration, Vice President Nelson Rockefeller formally dedicated Franklin Hall as the Benjamin Franklin National Memorial in 1976. (This magnificent space was inspired by the Pantheon in Rome.)

The rotunda is 82 feet in length, width, and height! The domed ceiling is self-supporting and weighs 1,600 tons. The floor, walls, columns, pilasters, and cornices are made of rare marbles from Portugal, Italy, and France. The Memorial has been visited by numerous personalities: Albert Einstein, Amelia Earhart, Kirk Douglas, and former Presidents Jimmy Carter, George Bush (senior), and Bill Clinton.

STATUE The four-times-life-size statue of Franklin was sculptured by James Earle Fraser, who also did the Buffalo nickel. The statue is made of white Seravezza marble from Italy and weighs 30 tons, while the base of the statue weighs 92 tons. It is twenty feet, 10 inches high.

CASES
The three cases along the wall feature several of Franklin's belongings. The black and white pictures in the cases detail the construction of the Franklin statue. Listen to a four minute audio presentation of Franklin talking about his life.

PROCEED to the Franklin Gallery (2nd floor) located near the Franklin Memorial.

In the gallery, you will find out what made Franklin such a great scientist and inventor. This exhibit is devoted to Franklin and his unique way of thinking. The room contains many of Franklin's exciting inventions, some of which are still used today!

You will find the following items in this exhibit space. (Not all the items may be on display at the same time.)

LIGHTNING ROD During the 1700s, lightning was a major cause of fires! Franklin understood both the power and danger of lightning. His experiments with electricity led him to invent the lightning rod, a long metal pole that attracts lightning away from houses and leads it into the ground. The lightning rod is still the most reliable protection we have against lightning.

ELECTROSTATIC MACHINE
This machine generates static electricity and was one of the actual ones that Franklin used to do his famous experiments. His work led to our understanding of electricity today. Franklin developed the single-fluid theory of electricity, introducing many of the terms we now use, such as positive and negative, plus and minus, and electrical battery.

FRANKLIN STOVE
Fireplaces and stoves were the main source of heat for homes in the 1700s and were very inefficient. Franklin developed a new style of stove that allowed for a more efficient fire, used less fuel, and generated twice as much heat. He was offered a patent for his design but turned it down. He didn't want to make a profit; instead, he wanted everyone to benefit from this new design.
(Although Franklin invented many things, he did not patent any of them.)

GLASS ARMONICA Franklin was an avid musician and played several instruments including the violin, harp, guitar, and the armonica. The armonica was based on a common instrument called musical glasses. The glasses were filled with different amounts of water. Sound was produced by rubbing one's finger along the edge of a glass. Franklin took that basic idea and created the armonica.

Instead of using glasses, Franklin used glass bowls of different sizes and thickness placed on their sides with a rod running through them. When the rod was cranked, the bowls turned. As the bowls turned, Franklin would moisten his fingers by dipping them in water and then gently rubbed the edges of the bowls with his fingers to produce the music. Beethoven and Mozart both composed music for the glass armonica.

BIFOCALS As Franklin got older, he was having trouble seeing things both close-up and at a distance. He got tired of carrying around two pairs of glasses, so he had the lens from each pair cut in half, then the bottom half from one pair and the top half from the other pair were put into one eyeglass frame. It was, and still is, called the bifocal.

LONG ARM Franklin's practicality also led to his invention of the long arm, a long reach device that allowed him to retrieve books and other items from high shelves. SWIM FINS Franklin was an avid swimmer in his younger years. He developed fins to help him swim faster and reduce what he called a "laborious and fatiguing operation."

LIGHTNING DIORAMA
When most people think about Franklin, they think of electricity. He is best known for the famous kite and key experiment in June of 1752. He made the important discovery that lightning and electricity are the same!

VISIT the LIGHTNING DIORAMA (located at the back of Franklin Gallery) to try your hand at one of the Museum's oldest exhibits and experience Franklin's most famous experiment! Please note the young boy shown in the diorama is not Franklin's son, William. William Franklin was a young man about 20 years old when he went out in the thunderstorm to help his father get the kite up in the air.

END your tour in the Electricity Exhibit and be sure to see Ben's Curiosity Show. Check the daily schedule for showtimes.

If you need more information on Benjamin Franklin and his inventions, visit the following Franklin Institute Online resources...

Benjamin Franklin: Glimpses of the Man: www.fi.edu/franklin
Franklin FAQ and Friends: www.fi.edu/franklin/birthday
Franklin's Forecast: www.fi.edu/weather
Pieces of Science (Lightning Rod and Glass Armonica): www.fi.edu/pieces
Franklin...He's Electric!: www.fi.edu/tfi/exhibits/franklin.html

January 17, 2006 is Ben Franklin's 300th birthday. You may also want to visit The Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary website at: www.benfranklin300.com.