Experiments and Observations on Electricity Made at Philadelphia in America (Annotated)
Enriched Edition. Early Electrical Experiments, Lightning Rods, and Enlightenment InquiryBy Benjamin Franklin
Length4h 1m
About this audiobook
Experiments and Observations on Electricity Made at Philadelphia in America gathers Benjamin Franklin's letters and reports on electrical phenomena, most famously his account of the lightning-rod and the identity of lightning with electricity. Written in a lucid, empirical prose rather than ornate speculation, the work belongs to the Enlightenment culture of public experiment, transatlantic correspondence, and practical natural philosophy, translating observation into theory with remarkable economy. Franklin was a printer, civic reformer, inventor, and statesman whose scientific habits grew from artisanal precision and public usefulness. His Philadelphia milieu—its libraries, learned societies, and pragmatic urban concerns—encouraged inquiry that joined curiosity to social benefit. The book reflects his talent for devising simple apparatus, framing testable hypotheses, and communicating discoveries to European savants without surrendering the directness of colonial experience. This volume is recommended to readers interested in the history of science, Enlightenment prose, and the emergence of experimental method in America. It is not merely a landmark in electrical theory, but a model of how disciplined observation, clear language, and civic imagination can transform scattered phenomena into enduring knowledge.
This enriched edition has been carefully crafted to add value to your reading experience.
- A succinct Introduction situates the work's timeless appeal and themes.
- The Synopsis outlines the central plot, highlighting key developments without spoiling critical twists.
- A detailed Historical Context immerses you in the era's events and influences that shaped the writing.
- An Author Biography reveals milestones in the author's life, illuminating the personal insights behind the text.
- A thorough Analysis dissects symbols, motifs, and character arcs to unearth underlying meanings.
- Reflection questions prompt you to engage personally with the work's messages, connecting them to modern life.
- Hand‐picked Memorable Quotes shine a spotlight on moments of literary brilliance.
- Interactive footnotes clarify unusual references, historical allusions, and archaic phrases for an effortless, more informed read.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 4.1 (172)
Includes Goodreads, Amazon, LibraryThing
GenreScience and Nature
Length4 hrs 1 min
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateDec 2, 2023
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Experiments and Observations on Electricity Made at Philadelphia in America (Annotated)
8LETTER II.
2Introduction
9LETTER III.
3Synopsis
10LETTER IV.
4Historical Context
11ADDITIONAL PAPERS .
5Author Biography
12Analysis
Show all chaptersShow less
6The PREFACE.
13Reflection
7LETTER I.
14Memorable Quotes
The Harvard Classics: Complete 51-Volume CollectionBenjamin Franklin, Edmund Burke, Plato, Marcus Aurelius, William Shakespeare, Homer, Friedrich von Schiller, William Makepeace Thackeray, John Ruskin, Robert Louis Stevenson, Edgar Alan Poe, Henry David Thoreau, Voltaire, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Immanuel Kant, Thomas Hobbes, John Woolman, William Penn, Epictetus, Francis Bacon, John Milton, Thomas Browne, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Robert Burns, Saint Augustine, Thomas à Kempis, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes, Marcus Tullius Cicero, Pliny the Younger, Adam Smith, Charles Darwin, Plutarch, Virgil, Miguel de Cervantes, John Bunyan, Izaak Walton, Aesop, Wilhelm Grimm, Jacob Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen, John Dryden, Brinsley Sheridan, David Garrick, Oliver Goldsmith, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Robert Browning, George Gordon Byron, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Christopher Marlowe, Dante Alighieri, Alessandro Manzoni, Richard Henry Dana, John Stuart Mill, Thomas Carlyle, Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Pierre Corneille, Jean Racine, Molière, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Philip Sidney, Ben Jonson, Abraham Cowley, Joseph Addison, Richard Steele, Jonathan Swift, Daniel Defoe, Samuel Johnson, David Hume, Sydney Smith, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Hazlitt, Leigh Hunt, Charles Lamb, Thomas De Quincey, Thomas Babington Macaulay, James Russell Lowell, Michael Faraday, Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz, Simon Newcomb, Archibald Geikie, Benvenuto Cellini, Michel de Montaigne, Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve, Ernest Renan, Giuseppe Mazzini, Herodotus, Tacitus, Francis Drake, Philip Nichols, Francis Pretty, Walter Bigges, Edward Haies, Walter Raleigh, René Descartes, Jean Froissart, Thomas Malory, William Henry Harrison, Niccolo Machiavelli, William Roper, Thomas More, Martin Luther, John Locke, George Berkeley, Hippocrates, Ambroise Paré, William Harvey, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Joseph Lister, Louis Pasteur, Thomas Dekker, Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher, John Webster, Philip Massinger, Blaise Pascal, William A. Neilson986h 46m4.4 (2K)$1.99 · $0.00
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