As a "man of science," Franklin is best known for his experiments with electricity, but his lifelong curiosity also led him to explore an amazing range of scientific topics. From the common cold to ocean currents, from medicine to music, and from agriculture to the aurora borealis, he believed that human logic could unlock the mysteries of the natural world. More interested in practical applications than in theory, Franklin put his ideas to work through such useful inventions as a smokeless fireplace, bifocal glasses, and the lightning rod.
If anyone knew how to enjoy life, it was Ben Franklin. He was fascinated with everything, and he was driven to share that fascination with others. One of the reasons we know so much about Franklin today is because he wrote about what he thought and how he lived. And he wrote volumes! He penned letters, journals, essays, books, newspaper articles, ballads, almanacs, and a celebrated autobiography.Ben Franklin believed that people volunteering together in a spirit of cooperation could accomplish great things.
Driven by a strong sense of civic duty, he involved himself in his community and his nation. Always mindful of the “greater good,” Franklin helped establish or improve institutions such as circulating libraries, public hospitals, mutual insurance companies, volunteer fire departments, agricultural colleges, and intellectual societies.
The civic virtue that Benjamin Franklin brought to his entrepreneurship and invention has overshadowed the remarkable wisdom of this investment sage. Perhaps because it is so simple that it seems unremarkable, this wisdom goes virtually unheralded among his other grand accomplishments.
