Ben Franklin, Everyday Problem Solver

Ben Franklin, Everyday Problem Solver

1Benjamin Franklin is famous as one of the founders of the United States. He helped write the Declaration of Independence, and he signed it. Yet Franklin was more than a leader. All his life, he was a curious thinker who found clever ways to solve everyday problems.

2Franklin's problem solving started when he was a boy in Boston. He loved to swim, and he wanted to swim faster. So he carved two flat wooden paddles and held one in each hand. The paddles pushed more water with every stroke, which helped him speed through the water. His idea was an early version of the swim fins people wear today.

3As a grown man, Franklin lived in Philadelphia. Homes there were heated by open fireplaces, which burned a lot of wood. Much of the heat rushed straight up the chimney instead of warming the room. Franklin designed an iron stove that sent more of the fire's heat into the room while burning less wood. People called it the Franklin stove.

4Franklin was also fascinated by lightning. In his time, lightning often struck tall buildings and set them on fire. After many experiments, Franklin became sure that lightning was a kind of electricity. He invented the lightning rod, a pointed metal rod placed on top of a building. A wire carries the electricity from the rod safely down into the ground, so the building does not burn. Lightning rods still protect many buildings today.

5Later in life, Franklin lived in France for several years as a representative of the new United States. By then, his eyes had changed. He needed one pair of glasses to see things far away and another pair to read. Tired of switching back and forth, he had the lenses from both pairs cut in half and set together in one frame. These glasses, called bifocals, let him look up to see far and look down to read.

6Franklin solved problems for his whole city, too. He helped start one of the first lending libraries in America so that people could share books. He also helped organize a volunteer fire company. Franklin never patented his inventions, which means he did not claim them as only his own. He wanted everyone to be free to use them, because he believed good ideas should help as many people as possible.