班傑明富蘭克林與電 Benjamin Franklin and Electricity

他思考的是電力與雷電的關係，富蘭克林發現兩者之間有著不少近似點：都能產生光亮、爆炸時有響亮的撞擊聲、能受金屬物質吸引、有相同的特殊氣味等等，基於這些發現，富蘭克林認為電力與雷電就是同樣的東西。沒有多少人認同他的想法，更沒有人曾經做過相關的測試。

富蘭克林將自己對電力的看法寫成信寄給幾位住在倫敦的科學家，他們認為這些信件的內容相當有價值，所以在1751年他們將這些資訊放在「電力的實驗與發現」（Experiments and Observations on Electricity）這本小冊子中出版。

其中一封信件內容提及富蘭克林想要證明電力與雷電是同樣東西的計畫，他的計畫需要在高處、如山坡或高樓上進行，但費城這兩樣東西都沒有，因此他有了另一個規劃，其中運用了鑰匙和風箏。

His idea was about electricity and lightning. Franklin noticed several similarities between the two: They both created light, made loud crashes when they exploded, were attracted to metal, had a particular smell, and more. Based on these observations, Franklin thought electricity and lightning were the same thing. A few people shared his belief, but no one had ever tested it.

Franklin wrote up his thoughts on electricity in several letters to a fellow scientist who lived in London. This scientist and other scientists in London thought Franklin's letters contained valuable information, so in 1751 they published them in a little book, Experiments and Observations on Electricity.

One of the letters contained Franklin's plan for how to prove that electricity and lightning were the same. His plan required something tall, like a hill or a tall building, but Philadelphia had neither at the time. While Franklin was waiting for a tall building to be built, he came up with another plan. This one involved a key and a kite.

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