Ben Franklin (1746-52 )
flew kites to demonstrate that lightning is a form of static
electricity (ESD). He would run a wire to the kite and
produce sparks at the ground, or charge a Leyden jar. This
led Franklin to invent the lightning rod.
Franklin also made
several electrostatic generators with rotating glass balls
to experiment with.
These experiments led him to formulate
the single fluid (imponderable fluid) theory of electricity.
Previous theories had held there were two electrical fluids
and two magnetic fluids. Franklin theorized just one
imponderable electrical fluid (a fluid under conservation)
in the universe.
The difference in electrical charges was
explained by an excess ( + ) or defect ( - ) of the single
electrical fluid. This is where the positive ( + ) and
negative ( - ) symbols come from in electrical science.
Read more on history,
origin and development of electronics and technology and some great
inventions and contribution of some of the greatest scientists and
inventors of all times.
