Benjamin Franklin's Inventions

Benjamin Franklin is a name that does not need much introduction since most of the people who have at least completed the elementary education would know who he was and the massive contributions that he has made towards the improvement of the lifestyle of people all over the world.

He not only made scientific inventions but also functioned as a politician, publisher, and statesman to improve the conditions of North America in particular, and the world, in general.

He was born on January 17^th in the year 1706 and lived till the age of 84. He died on April 17^th, 1790. His contributions are too valuable for a life of 84 years.

He is one of the Founding Fathers of the United States who engaged himself in politics, philosophy, science, and business. If there was somebody who imagines of a nation that would be like America, he was the one or rather the first one. Franklin's curiosity showed the light of enlightenment to him and also the others. Here are some of his inventions.

Franklin himself commented once that of all his inventions, this is the one that gave him the greatest of satisfaction. So, here we are discussing the Armonica, though let us tell you, this was "his own version" of the armonica that he invented after he went to a concert wherein the tunes were being played on wine glasses.

Benjamin Franklin's Armonica did not require water tuning; instead in his version to get the proper pitch, the glasses were blown in the right size and thickness that would produce the proper sound and the proper pitch.

These glasses were attached to a spindle that could be turned by a foot-operated treadle. The glasses were placed very close to each other, in fact sometimes fitted into each other, which resulted in a very compact and small instrument that was easier to play as well as carry.

"Necessity is the mother of Invention"- said Plato and was proved by Benjamin Franklin when he invented the bifocal glasses that he did when he was getting old and was facing problems in seeing things that were close as well as things that were at a distance.

Since wearing two types of lenses alternatively was getting really troublesome, he wanted to devise something that would aid to see things at a distance as well as things that are closer. So he managed to do that by placing the distance lens at the top and the up-close lens at the bottom, thus making a double spectacle out of two different lenses.

Today, we wear bifocals that are visibly much more acceptable and convenient since the two lenses are molded to form one lens on which the top part is for distance viewing and the bottom part is for close viewing.

Because the heat that they produced found an outlet in the chimney and as a result went out. The stoves at that time were made of iron in which fire crackled which not only resulted in smoke but also exposed the house (that were usually made of wood) to the danger of fire that had the potential to destroy the house completely.

Therefore it can be said that, Franklin discovered a new way rather than inventing because, this kind of stove was already invented around seven decades before he thought about it. He developed the stove and introduced a hood-like enclosure in the front of the stove and an air box in the rear. This new model used fuel efficiently and also produced more heat.

Benjamin Franklin never invented things for his own benefit, his inventions therefore are not patented because he just wanted people to make use of them and make their lives easier.