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A Biography of Benjamin Franklin, Scientist
by Richard Munson
The dramatic story of an ingenious man who explained nature and created a country.
Benjamin Franklin was one of the preeminent scientists of his time. Driven by curiosity, he conducted cutting-edge research on electricity, heat, ocean currents, weather patterns, chemical bonds, and plants. But today, Franklin is remembered more for his political prowess and diplomatic achievements than his scientific creativity.
In this incisive and rich account of Benjamin Franklin's life and career, Richard Munson recovers this vital part of Franklin's story, reveals his modern relevance, and offers a compelling portrait of a shrewd experimenter, clever innovator, and visionary physicist whose fame opened doors to negotiate French support and funding for American independence.
Munson's riveting narrative explores how science underpins Franklin's entire story―from tradesman to inventor to nation-founder―and argues that Franklin's political life cannot be understood without giving proper credit to his scientific accomplishments.
"[E]lectrifying...The book's most illuminating sections cover how [Franklin's] scientific interests influenced his political career...Munson proves there's reason yet to revisit the much-studied statesman." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"An engaging, fully dimensional portrait of Franklin, his empirical mindset serving as an example for our fact-challenged era." —Kirkus Reviews
"[S]plendid…Munson's absorbing narrative biography guides us expertly through Franklin's extraordinary life. Page after page, Ingenious shows how one person with little formal education made an impact that still has relevance today. For readers of history, biography and science (or simply those in search of an outstanding book about Franklin that is not too long), Ingenious is an excellent choice." ―BookPage
This information about Ingenious was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Richard Munson is an author and clean-energy advocate. His previous books include Tesla: Inventor of the Modern.
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