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Image of Mr. and Mrs. Franklin |
After Franklin’s wife learned about his experiments, she was very worried and said to him: “Lightning is divine fire; how can you dare to use God’s light for your experiments? Are you bringing disaster upon our family?”
Franklin understood that his wife was a devout believer in God and trusted the “Bible.” If he told her that thunder and lightning were not created by God but were merely a natural phenomenon caused by the interaction of positive and negative charges in the clouds, she would never believe him.
Therefore, Franklin comforted her with a few words and then went to his study to begin sketching out his lightning rod design.
At dinner, Franklin discussed the design and its principles with his son. Although the son was also deeply influenced by religion, the experiment that afternoon had shown him that thunder and lightning were not “divine fire” as people often said, but just a natural phenomenon. Thus, he agreed with his father’s ideas.
Seeing this, Mrs. Franklin became anxious and said:
“Dear, do you intend to harm yourself and our family?”
“No, no, my dear, how could I do that?” – Franklin replied as if nothing were happening.
“Didn’t you just say that you’re bringing divine fire into our home? Are you not disrespecting God and provoking Him?”
Franklin cheerfully replied to his wife: “Never, my dear, don’t you always believe in me? Please continue to trust me. I won’t bring disaster; I will bring happiness to everyone.”
“Happiness? You will bring happiness to everyone?” – Mrs. Franklin said, half-believing, half-doubting – “Well, as long as you do not offend God and don’t cause disaster, that will be fine.”
Franklin nodded in affirmation.
To alleviate his wife’s doubts, he decided to conduct the lightning rod experiment indoors. He went to the nearby blacksmith and had a 3-meter long pointed iron rod made, which he placed on top of the chimney. He tied a metal wire to the bottom of the iron rod. Where the metal wire came into contact with the house, he passed it through a glass tube.
He ran the metal wire down the stairs into the middle of the house, ultimately connecting it to a metal water pump. The water pump was grounded, allowing the electrical charge to flow from the chimney directly into the ground.
He split the metal wire at the top of the stairs near his room into two conductive wires. On each wire, he attached a small bell, hanging two small copper balls inside the two bells. Everything was progressing smoothly. The father and son darted back and forth between the roof and the stairs, chatting and laughing joyfully as if they had found treasure.
Although the little daughter did not participate in her father’s work, she ran around her father and brother. Only his wife anxiously monitored the two, wondering what kind of magic they were up to.
One afternoon, while the Franklin family was gathered around drinking tea, suddenly a storm approached, with dust flying everywhere and the sky darkening, signaling an impending rainfall.
A flash of lightning streaked across the sky.
Ding dong! Ding dong! The sound of bells rang out clearly.
“What is that? Where is the sound of the bells coming from?” – Mrs. Franklin asked in surprise.
Mr. Franklin joyfully exclaimed: “That is the effect of the lightning!”
Whenever there was lightning, the small copper balls on the wires would shake back and forth, causing the bells to emit a deafening sound.
One night, while the whole family was sound asleep, a loud thunderclap suddenly erupted outside, sounding like an explosion that woke everyone up. Franklin hurried to the bedroom to look, and he saw bright flashes of light darting continuously between the two small bells.
The white streak of light was indeed electricity.
Franklin said: “This is 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.”
“Really?” – His wife and daughter were astonished and asked him.
“Yes,” – he said, embracing his daughter and kissing her affectionately.
“This metal rod can be called a lightning rod,” – the intelligent daughter pointed and said.
“It’s just that it’s small compared to the large house, so let’s call it a Lightning Rod,” – he laughed and said to his daughter.
“Yes, yes!” – The little girl clapped her hands triumphantly and said – “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“
