This book is about the same as the others in the series. I like it a little bit better than the Newton one, probably because I know less about Franklin (in spite of having grown up in the suburbs of Philadelphia). There are some weird bits. I don't think electricity and magnetism can be confused, since they are actually expressions of the same thing. I never heard of a Leyden jar being filled w/ water before, but there is a picture of such a Leyden jar in the book. Maybe it was an early prototype. Franklin's kite flying experiment may have been risky, but it was performed with care; he ddn't just rush about in a storm flying a kite and seeing if he would get electrocuted.

Some interesting bits: Mozart wrote music for Franklin's armonic. Georg Richmann was the first person to be killed in an electrical experiment, a year after Franklin's kite experiment.

Summary: it is possible to divide Franklin's adult life into three phases: business and civic efforts, science, politics. ( )