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Image of Mr. and Mrs. Franklin |
After Franklin’s wife learned about his experiments, she became very worried and said to him: “Lightning is divine fire, how dare you use God’s light to conduct experiments? Are you bringing disaster upon our family?”
Franklin knew that his wife was a devoted believer, trusting in the “Bible.” If he told her that thunder and lightning were not created by God but resulted from the interaction of positively and negatively charged clouds, she would never believe it.
Therefore, Franklin simply reassured her a few times before returning to his study to begin sketching out his lightning rod design.
At dinner, Franklin discussed the design and its principles with his son. Although his son was also deeply influenced by religion, the experiment they conducted that afternoon made him realize that thunder and lightning were not “divine fire” as people commonly said, but merely a natural phenomenon. Thus, he agreed with his father’s ideas.
Seeing this, Mrs. Franklin became anxious and said:
“Dear, do you really want to endanger yourself and the family?”
“No, no, my dear, how could I do such a thing?” – Franklin replied nonchalantly.
“Did you not just say you were bringing divine fire home? Are you not disrespecting God? Are you not provoking Him?”
Franklin cheerfully replied to his wife: “Never, my dear, don’t you always believe in me? Please continue to trust me. I will not only bring no disaster but also happiness to everyone.”
“Happiness? You are bringing happiness to everyone?” – Mrs. Franklin said with skepticism, looking at her husband – “Fine, just don’t offend God, and don’t bring disaster.”
Franklin nodded affirmatively.
To dispel his wife’s doubts, he decided to conduct the lightning rod experiment indoors. He went to a nearby blacksmith and had a 3-meter long pointed iron rod made, which he placed on top of the chimney. He attached a metal wire to the base of the iron rod. Every point where the metal wire came into contact with the house, he threaded through a glass tube.
He ran the metal wire down the stairs to the center of the house, finally connecting it to a metal water pump. The pump was grounded, allowing the electrical current from the chimney to flow directly into the ground.
He split the metal wire at the top of the stairs, close to his room, into two leads. On each wire, he attached a small bell, hanging two small copper balls into the bells. Everything progressed very smoothly. The father and son dashed up to the roof and then down the stairs, chatting and laughing as if they had discovered a treasure.
Although their young daughter did not participate in her father’s work, she scurried around her father and brother. Only his wife anxiously watched the two, unsure of what kind of magic they were up to.
One afternoon, while Franklin and his family were gathered drinking tea, a storm suddenly rolled in, with dust swirling and the sky darkening, signaling an impending downpour.
A flash of lightning streaked across the sky.
Ding dong! Ding dong! The sound of the bells rang out brightly.
“What is that? Where is that bell coming from?” – Mrs. Franklin asked in surprise.
Mr. Franklin exclaimed with joy: “That’s the effect of the lightning!”
Whenever there was lightning, the small copper balls on the wire would shake continuously from side to side, causing the bells to ring out loudly.
One night while the family was fast asleep, a loud thunderclap suddenly sounded outside, resembling an explosion that woke everyone up. Franklin quickly ran to the bedroom to look, and he saw bright flashes of light racing between the two small bells.
The bright white streak was indeed electricity.
Franklin said: “This is the lightning striking the top of our house; it travels through here and goes straight into the ground. If I hadn’t installed that metal rod, our house would have been struck by lightning and damaged.”
“Is that true?” – Franklin’s wife and daughter asked in amazement.
“Absolutely,” he replied, embracing his daughter and kissing her affectionately.
“This metal rod can be called a lightning rod now,” the clever daughter pointed out.
“It’s just that it’s so small compared to the large house, so let’s call it a lightning rod,” he laughed, responding to his daughter.
“Yes, yes!” – The little girl clapped her hands excitedly, exclaiming – “Lightning rod, lightning rod, my father has invented the lightning rod! It can conquer divine fire.”
“What can be done today should not be postponed until tomorrow“
— Franklin —
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Back to: “Franklin – Kite and Lightning“
