Benjamin Franklin, Science, and Civic Life - Carla Mulford
222 views · Published 15 May 2017 · 11:36 · Indexed 28 October 2026
Channel: wpsu · 2017 · Science & Technology
Benjamin Franklin, Science, and Civic Life - Carla Mulford Today, we talk about the importance of science to civic life as if it were a relatively new concept. Yet the interconnections between these two has a long history in America, going back to Benjamin Franklin's pragmatic work in natural philosophy (what we today call science) and in politics, as he worked to secure the Treaty of Paris in 1783. The famous French philosopher and statesman, Turgot, said of Franklin that he "snatched lightning from the skies and the scepter from tyrants." We might think of this as propaganda, but Turgot was right: Franklin succeeded as a diplomat where others (including John Adams) had failed, because Franklin could leverage his political goals (including the science of self-governance) with the significant weight of his scientific achievements, which were admired throughout Europe. Franklin capitalized on his scientific renown in order to shore up his efforts to create a treaty to conclude the American Revolution. Without the Treaty of Paris, for which Benjamin Franklin served as prime negotiator, the American colonies would not have been free to create states and, more importantly, the federal Constitution. I believe that if Franklin had not had such a significant reputation as a scientist, his political efforts would not have had such a signal achievement.
