How it works. Benjamin Franklin's Plan for Moral Excellence Plan for Moral Excellence
In 1726, during an 80-day voyage from London to Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin devised a plan and a timetable to achieve moral perfection.
His plan was based on a list of thirteen virtues - human virtues.
He strove to pay strict attention to one virtue each week - noting on the table those days when he failed to observe this virtue. Franklin believed that if in the first week he managed to keep the first line (Temperance) unmarked, then in the next week he could extend his attention to the next line. After thirteen weeks he was going through all thirteen virtues. This course repeated four times a year.
Here is a description of this plan given by Franklin himself in his autobiography.
IX. A PLAN FOR MORAL PERFECTION
Around this time, I hatched a bold, even audacious plan: to achieve moral perfection. I wanted to live without committing sins and offenses; I decided to overcome everything that either an innate inclination, or a habit, or other people's examples pushed me to. Knowing or imagining that I know what is good and what is bad, I saw no reason why I should not always follow the first and avoid the second. But I soon became convinced that the task was more difficult than I had imagined. While I was guarding against one sin with all my might, another overtook me; habit came into its own, attention slightly weakened; inclination was sometimes stronger than reason. Finally, I came to the conclusion that the mere speculative belief that it is in our interests to be perfectly virtuous is not enough to protect ourselves from repeated falls, and before we can rest in the thought that from now on your behavior will be consistently correct, it is necessary to get rid of bad habits, acquire good habits and establish yourself in them. And for this I have developed a certain method.
Among the various lists of moral virtues that I happened to read, there were more or less long ones, depending on whether the writers combined more or less concepts under one rubric. For example, some reduced abstinence only to food and drink, while others believed that one should abstain from all other pleasures, appetites, inclinations and passions, both bodily and spiritual, up to stinginess and ambition. I decided, for the sake of clarity, to prefer more rubrics and fewer concepts under each, and not a few rubrics that combine more concepts; and in thirteen headings I included everything that at that time seemed to me necessary and desirable, adding in each case a brief instruction, from which it was clear how I understood this or that virtue.
1. Temperance.
Do not eat to the point of stupefaction, do not drink to the point of intoxication.
2. Silence.
Speak only what can be of benefit to others or to yourself.
3. Love for order.
Let there be a place for each of your things; let there be a time for each of your affairs.
4. Decisiveness.
Decide to do what you must; and what you decide, carry out steadily.
5. Thrift.
Allow yourself only those expenses that will benefit others or yourself; don't waste anything.
6. Diligence.
Don't waste time; always be busy with something useful; cancel all unnecessary things.
7. Sincerity.
Do not resort to pernicious deceit: let your thoughts be innocent and just; and if you speak, then let the words be the same.
8. Justice.
Never offend people by doing them harm or not doing good, as duty dictates.
9. Moderation.
Avoid extremes; do not hold a grudge for the harm done to you, even if you think that it deserves it.
10. Cleanliness.
Do not allow the slightest dirt either on yourself, or in clothes, or in the house.
11. Calm.
Do not worry about trifles, because of small or inevitable incidents.
12. Chastity.
Indulge in lust rarely, only for health or for the prolongation of the family; do not let it lead to dullness or weakness, or deprive you of peace of mind or cast a shadow on your good name or anyone else.
13. Meekness.
Follow the example of Jesus and Socrates.
Since my intention was to make all these virtues habitual, I decided not to disperse my attention, trying to master all at once, but to focus it at the same time on only one; having mastered it, move on to the next and so on up to the thirteenth; and as the mastery of one might facilitate the mastery of some of the others, I have arranged them in the order in which they are given above. In the first place - Temperance, because it helps to maintain a clear head, so necessary in conditions when I had to be constantly on the alert and vigilantly protect myself from the attractiveness of old habits and incessant temptations. Having established myself in this virtue, I thought, it would be easier to get used to Silence; and since my desire was to simultaneously acquire knowledge in virtues, and besides, it is not so much the tongue that helps to acquire knowledge in conversation, but the ears, which means that I need to get rid of my habit of wagging my tongue, joking and punning, for which I was only loved in ill-respected company, I put Silence in second place. I hoped that this and the following virtue, Love of order, would give me more time to carry out my plans and to study. Decisiveness, having become habitual, will help me in my attempts to acquire all the other virtues; Thrift and Industriousness, having rid me of the debts still lying on me and giving me well-being and independence, will facilitate the manifestations of Sincerity and Justice, etc., etc. And then, realizing that I, following the advice of Pythagoras, expressed by him in "Golden Verses", you will need to check yourself daily, I have developed the following method for such a check.
I made a little book in which I assigned a page for each virtue. I lined each page in red ink into seven columns, marking them with the initial letters of the days of the week. And across these columns I drew thirteen red lines, placing at the beginning of each of them the first letter of one of the virtues, in order to mark in the desired cell with a black dot all cases when, during verification, it turns out that on such and such a day I sinned against such and such virtues.
temperance | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Do not eat to the point of stupefaction, Do not drink to the point of intoxication. | |||||||
Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | |
AT. | |||||||
M. | * | * | * | * | |||
L. | ** | * | * | * | * | * | |
R. | * | * | |||||
B. | * | * | |||||
T. | * | ||||||
AND. | |||||||
FROM. | |||||||
U. | |||||||
Ch. | |||||||
FROM. | |||||||
C. | |||||||
TO. |
I resolved to give exclusive attention to one virtue for a week. Thus, in the first week, I especially tried not to sin against Temperance, while taking care of the rest of the virtues only in passing and only noting the misdeeds of the past day every evening. It seemed to me that if in the first week it was possible to keep the first line marked B. without marks, then in the next week I could extend my attention to the second and already in the next week both first lines would remain unmarked. Proceeding in this way, I will finish full course in thirteen weeks, and in a year I will do four courses. And just as a person who plans to weed his garden does not try to pull out all the weeds at once, which would be too much for him, but works on one bed and only after finishing it, moves on to the next, so I hoped to rejoice and be inspired by the sight of that how I prosper in the virtues, how more and more blank lines become, and finally, having done several courses, I am delighted to be convinced, after thirteen weeks, that I see before me a whole blank page.
As an epigraph to my little book, I took the following lines from Addison's Cato:
I'm standing on that. If someone is above us,
(and nature is a witness to this),
He will be happy with perfect creations,
And they are happy with His joy.
The second epigraph was from Cicero:
"O vitæ Philosophia dux! O virtutum indagatrix expultrixque vitiorum! Unus dies, bene et ex præceptis tuis actus, peccanti immortalitati est anteponendus.
Since the instruction under the heading "Love for order" required that there should be a time for each task, one page in my little book was occupied with the schedule of my studies at all hours of the day. Here is that page.
Morning What good will I do today? |
Get up, wash yourself, read "Almighty goodness!". Think things through and make decisions for the day ahead; continue the lesson and have breakfast. | |
8 |
Work | |
Noon |
Read, check bills, have lunch. | |
2 |
Work | |
Evening Q: What good have I done today? |
6 |
Put everything away. Dinner. Music, or conversation, or other entertainment. Checking the day before. |
Night |
10 |
Dream |
I began to carry out my plan of self-examination and did this for quite a long time, with occasional breaks. I was surprised that I have a lot more sins than I thought; but I noted with satisfaction that they were getting smaller. To save myself the trouble of starting a new book to replace the old one, which was full of holes when I erased and scraped off the marks of old misdeeds from the paper, making room for new marks, I transferred my tables and instructions to ivory plates lined with strong red ink, and I made notes with a black pencil, and they were easily erased with a wet sponge as needed. Subsequently, I began to do only one course a year, then several years, and in the end I abandoned them altogether, being busy with travel, work overseas and a thousand different things; but I always carried my little book with me.
What gave me the most trouble was the point concerning order; I saw that my instructions could possibly be done for a person whose duties allow him to freely dispose of his time, for example, for a traveling printer; but for the owner, who is forced to communicate with many people, and they often choose the time for business meetings themselves, such a task is simply unbearable. It was also very difficult to get used to keeping in order, in certain places, papers and other things.
Yes, with regard to Order, I proved to be incorrigible; and now that I am old and my memory is failing, I feel it very clearly. In general, although I never reached the perfection that I so ambitiously sought, nevertheless, thanks to my efforts, I became both better and happier than I would have been if I had not made these efforts; like those who, having set themselves the goal of writing flawlessly and for this copying engraved texts, although they do not achieve the desired perfection in these copies, their handwriting improves and, remaining legible, even makes a pleasant impression.
I think it will be useful for my descendants to know that with the help of this little trick, their ancestor, with the blessing of God, found unclouded happiness throughout his life until the age of seventy-nine, when these lines are written ...
Benjamin Franklin's life was far more complex, creative, and complete than his many quotes, no matter how accurate, would suggest.
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He was one of the most unusual representatives of the human race. Born to a Boston candle maker, Benjamin Franklin became the most famous American of his day. He helped in the formation of a new state and nation, defined the American character. Writer, traveler, philanthropist, inventor, diplomat, businessman, musician, scientist, humorist, public and statesman, international celebrity... a genius.
In 1726, during an 80-day voyage from London to Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin devised a plan and a timetable to achieve moral perfection.
His plan was based on a list of thirteen virtues - human virtues.
He strove to pay strict attention to one virtue each week - noting on the table those days when he failed to observe this virtue. Franklin believed that if in the first week he managed to keep the first line (Temperance) unmarked, then in the next week he could extend his attention to the next line. After thirteen weeks he was going through all thirteen virtues. This course was repeated four times a year.
Here is a description of this plan given by Franklin himself in his autobiography.
A PLAN FOR MORAL PERFECTION
Around this time, I hatched a bold, even audacious plan: to achieve moral perfection. I wanted to live without committing sins and offenses; I decided to overcome everything that either an innate inclination, or a habit, or other people's examples pushed me to. Knowing or imagining that I know what is good and what is bad, I saw no reason why I should not always follow the first and avoid the second. But I soon became convinced that the task was more difficult than I had imagined. While I was guarding against one sin with all my might, another overtook me; habit came into its own, attention slightly weakened; inclination was sometimes stronger than reason. Finally, I came to the conclusion that the mere speculative belief that it is in our interests to be perfectly virtuous is not enough to protect ourselves from repeated falls, and before we can rest in the thought that from now on your behavior will be consistently correct, it is necessary to get rid of bad habits, acquire good habits and establish yourself in them. And for this I have developed a certain method.
Among the various lists of moral virtues that I happened to read, there were more or less long ones, depending on whether the writers combined more or less concepts under one rubric. For example, some reduced abstinence only to food and drink, while others believed that one should abstain from all other pleasures, appetites, inclinations and passions, both bodily and spiritual, up to stinginess and ambition. I decided, for the sake of clarity, to prefer more rubrics and fewer concepts under each, and not a few rubrics that combine more concepts; and in thirteen headings I included everything that at that time seemed to me necessary and desirable, adding in each case a brief instruction, from which it was clear how I understood this or that virtue.
1. Temperance.
Do not eat to the point of stupefaction, do not drink to the point of intoxication.
2. Silence.
Speak only what can be of benefit to others or to yourself.
3. Love for order.
Let there be a place for each of your things; let there be a time for each of your affairs.
4. Decisiveness.
Decide to do what you must; and what you decide, carry out steadily.
5. Thrift.
Allow yourself only those expenses that will benefit others or yourself; don't waste anything.
6. Diligence.
Don't waste time; always be busy with something useful; cancel all unnecessary things.
7. Sincerity.
Do not resort to pernicious deceit: let your thoughts be innocent and just; and if you speak, then let the words be the same.
8. Justice.
Never offend people by doing them harm or not doing good, as duty dictates.
9. Moderation.
Avoid extremes; do not hold a grudge for the harm done to you, even if you think that it deserves it.
10. Cleanliness.
Do not allow the slightest dirt either on yourself, or in clothes, or in the house.
11. Calm.
Do not worry about trifles, because of small or inevitable incidents.
12. Chastity.
Indulge in lust rarely, only for health or for the prolongation of the family; do not let it lead to dullness or weakness, or deprive you of peace of mind or cast a shadow on your good name or anyone else.
13. Meekness.
Follow the example of Jesus and Socrates.
Since my intention was to make all these virtues habitual, I decided not to disperse my attention, trying to master all at once, but to focus it at the same time on only one; having mastered it, move on to the next and so on up to the thirteenth; and as the mastery of one might facilitate the mastery of some of the others, I have arranged them in the order in which they are given above.
In the first place - Temperance, because it helps to maintain a clear head, so necessary in conditions when I had to be constantly on the alert and vigilantly protect myself from the attractiveness of old habits and incessant temptations. Having established myself in this virtue, I thought, it would be easier to get used to Silence; and since my desire was to simultaneously acquire knowledge in virtues, and besides, it is not so much the tongue that helps to acquire knowledge in conversation, but the ears, which means that I need to get rid of my habit of wagging my tongue, joking and punning, for which I was only loved in ill-respected company, I put Silence in second place. I hoped that this and the following virtue, Love of order, would give me more time to carry out my plans and to study. Decisiveness, having become habitual, will help me in my attempts to acquire all the other virtues; Thrift and Industriousness, having rid me of the debts still lying on me and giving me well-being and independence, will facilitate the manifestations of Sincerity and Justice, etc., etc. And then, realizing that I, following the advice of Pythagoras, expressed by him in "Golden Verses", you will need to check yourself daily, I have developed the following method for such a check.
I made a little book in which I assigned a page for each virtue. I lined each page in red ink into seven columns, marking them with the initial letters of the days of the week. And across these columns I drew thirteen red lines, placing at the beginning of each of them the first letter of one of the virtues, in order to mark in the desired cell with a black dot all cases when, during verification, it turns out that on such and such a day I sinned against such and such virtues.
temperance
Do not eat to the point of stupefaction, Do not drink to the point of intoxication.
I resolved to give exclusive attention to one virtue for a week. Thus, in the first week, I especially tried not to sin against Temperance, while taking care of the rest of the virtues only in passing and only noting the misdeeds of the past day every evening. It seemed to me that if in the first week it was possible to keep the first line marked B. without marks, then in the next week I could extend my attention to the second and already in the next week both first lines would remain unmarked. Proceeding in this way, I will complete the full course in thirteen weeks, and in a year I will complete four courses.
And just as a person who plans to weed his garden does not try to pull out all the weeds at once, which would be too much for him, but works on one bed and only after finishing it, moves on to the next, so I hoped to rejoice and be inspired by the sight of that how I prosper in the virtues, how more and more blank lines become, and finally, having done several courses, I am delighted to be convinced, after thirteen weeks, that I see before me a whole blank page.
As an epigraph to my little book, I took the following lines from Addison's Cato:
I'm standing on that. If someone is above us,
(and nature is a witness to this),
He will be happy with perfect creations,
And they are happy with His joy.
The second epigraph was from Cicero:
"O vitæ Philosophia dux! O virtutum indagatrix expultrixque vitiorum! Unus dies, bene et ex præceptis tuis actus, peccanti immortalitati est anteponendus.
...
I began to carry out my plan of self-examination and did this for quite a long time, with occasional breaks. I was surprised that I have a lot more sins than I thought; but I noted with satisfaction that they were getting smaller. To save myself the trouble of starting a new book to replace the old one, which was full of holes when I erased and scraped off the marks of old misdeeds from the paper, making room for new marks, I transferred my tables and instructions to ivory plates lined with strong red ink, and I made notes with a black pencil, and they were easily erased with a wet sponge as needed. Subsequently, I began to do only one course a year, then several years, and in the end I abandoned them altogether, being busy with travel, work overseas and a thousand different things; but I always carried my little book with me.
What gave me the most trouble was the point concerning order; I saw that my instructions could possibly be done for a person whose duties allow him to freely dispose of his time, for example, for a traveling printer; but for the owner, who is forced to communicate with many people, and they often choose the time for business meetings themselves, such a task is simply unbearable. It was also very difficult to get used to keeping in order, in certain places, papers and other things.
Benjamin Franklin is a US statesman and politician, educator, diplomat, scientist, publisher, journalist, one of the founding fathers of the United States, and he became the only one whose signature was under all three historical documents directly related to the formation of a sovereign state (Declaration of Independence , the Constitution, the Versailles Peace Treaty of 1783).
Franklin was the first citizen of his country to become a member Russian Academy Sciences.
Renowned psychologist Dale Carnegie sums up Benjamin Franklin's views as follows: "If you want excellent advice on how to deal with people, manage yourself and improve your personal qualities, read Benjamin Franklin's autobiography - one of the most fascinating stories of life."
By decision of the World Peace Council, Franklin's name is included in the list of the most prominent representatives of Humanity.
Among other prominent scientific developments and inventions Benjamin Franklin developed his own time management system.
Time management, time management, time management is a technology for organizing time and increasing the efficiency of its use.
Benjamin Franklin was an extraordinary man, like most, and debt was an integral part of his life. But he believed in himself, believed that he could succeed if he found his way. His natural ability and keen mind helped him discover this method—the Franklin 13 Commandments method, as it was later called, so simple and practical that anyone who wants to succeed in life can use it.
Benjamin Franklin formulated for himself 13 commandments, which he considered necessary to observe in order to become a master of his craft. Each week, he focused his attention on just one of the commandments that came in turn on his list.
For thirteen weeks in a row, he carefully worked on his list of commandments, and then he repeated this process 4 more times in a year.
In his autobiography, the 79-year-old Franklin devotes more pages to the 13 core virtues, the thirteen commandments, than to any other event in his life! He believed that it was this idea that helped him succeed and become a happy person.
Franklin ends the book with the words:
“I will be glad if my example helps my followers live a happy life” Benjamin Franklin, who has the reputation of one of the wisest and most practical people in the world, is proud of his idea as the most important thing that he managed to accomplish in his entire life, why don't you do the same ?!
The Thirteen Commandments of Franklin:
1. Temperance in everything: in food and drink.“If you want to prolong your life, shorten your meals” or “Since people learned how to cook food, they eat twice as much as nature requires.”
2. Silence is golden. Say only what will benefit you or others, avoid empty chatter. "Three can keep a secret if two of them are dead."
3. Order: everything has its time and place, each thing must have its place, each duty at work is done in due time. "If you love life, don't waste your time, because life is made up of time"
4. Determination: do what you have to do without hesitation, if you decide to take action, go to the end."Real honor is the decision to do, under all circumstances, what is beneficial to the majority of people."
5. Thrift: spending should benefit you or others, do not throw money away."Beware of petty waste, too, for a small leak can sink a large ship."
6. Hardworking: don't waste time, keep busy necessary things stop useless activities. "If you want to have leisure, don't waste your time."
7. Sincerity: do not resort to deceit, your thoughts must be pure and just, and your speech should be the same. "If you want to sleep soundly, take a clear conscience to bed with you."
8. Justice: do not offend anyone by doing evil or not doing good, it is your duty."Who fanns the flames of a quarrel and rolls firebrands, he should not complain if sparks fall into his face."
9. Moderation: do not go to extremes, try to endure insults patiently.“He who is able to endure is able to achieve whatever he wants” or “What began with anger ends in shame.”
10. Cleanliness: Be intolerant of uncleanliness of the body, clothing and dwelling.“Laziness makes everything difficult” or “Laziness, like rust, corrodes faster than labor wears out.”
11. Calmness: do not get upset over trifles or annoying accidents - they are inevitable.“Never expect trouble and worry about what may never happen. Stay close to the sunlight."
12. Chastity: do not indulge in voluptuousness often, only for health or procreation, and never from boredom, weakness, or to the detriment of yourself or the well-being and tranquility of another. "Some people think they are buying pleasure, but they are selling themselves into its slavery." "Debauchery breakfasts with Wealth, lunches with Poverty, suppers with Poverty, and goes to bed with Shame."
13. Humility: imitate Jesus and Socrates.“I, Benjamin Franklin, achieved wealth, honor and fame only because I tried to be moral and benevolent and tried to the best of my ability to follow the principles that I developed in early youth and followed them all my life.”
Franklin's 13 Virtues Benjamin Franklin was always thinking about the kind of person he wanted to be. In the end, he was able to formulate a clear goal: he wanted to become "moral perfection." This thought came to Benjamin at the age of 20. In order to achieve his goal, he created a list of 13 virtues. 1. Temperance. Eat not to satiety, drink not to intoxication. 2. Silence. Say only what can benefit you or another; avoid empty talk. 3. Love for order. Let there be a place for each of your things; let there be a time for each of your affairs. 4. Decisiveness. Decide to do what you must; and what you decide, carry out steadily. 5. Thrift. Allow yourself only those expenses that will benefit others or yourself; don't waste anything. 6. Diligence. Don't waste time; always be busy with something useful; cancel all unnecessary things. 7. Sincerity. Do not resort to pernicious deceit: let your thoughts be innocent and just; and if you speak, then let the words be the same. 8. Justice. Never offend people by doing them harm or not doing good, as duty dictates. 9. Moderation. Avoid extremes; do not hold a grudge for the harm done to you, even if you think that it deserves it. 10. Cleanliness. Do not allow the slightest dirt either on yourself, or in clothes, or in the house. 11. Calm. Do not worry about trifles, because of small or inevitable incidents. 12. Chastity. Indulge in lust rarely, only for health or for the prolongation of the family; do not let it lead to dullness or weakness, or deprive you of peace of mind or cast a shadow on your good name or anyone else. 13. Meekness. Follow the example of Jesus and Socrates. An impressive list of virtues, isn't it? But Franklin didn't stop there. He developed a system that helped him make these virtues part of his Everyday life. At its core was a 13-week plan that helped him stay focused on what's important right now. Because main goal Franklin wanted to make these virtues habitual, he decided to set aside one week for each of them. And only after this time, move on to the next virtue. The daily struggle is to constantly stay focused on what really matters. To stay focused, Benjamin Franklin kept a notebook of 13 pages, one for each virtue. He lined each page so that there were seven columns (seven days of the week). Then he drew 13 horizontal lines (13 virtues). Franklin knew that he could not master all 13 virtues at once. As mentioned above, he decided to devote one week to each of them. Franklin believed that if he focused on one virtue, it would quickly become a habit. After that, he planned to move on to another virtue, next week to the next one, and so on until he had mastered them all. In the first week, Franklin's main focus was on one virtue; other virtues were left to chance, he only marked every evening with a black circle the misses made during the day. "There are three things that are extraordinarily difficult to do: break the steel, crush the diamond, and know yourself." Benjamin Franklin
“About 1728 (that is, at the age of 22 ...) I conceived a bold and difficult plan for achieving moral perfection, highlighting the thirteen most important moral virtues known to me. Here are the names of these virtues with their respective instructions:
- Abstinence. - Eat not to satiety, drink not to intoxication.
- Silence. - Say only what can benefit me or another; avoid empty talk.
- . – Keep all your belongings in place; There is a time for every lesson.
- . - Decide to do what needs to be done; strictly carry out what is decided.
- Thrift. - Spend money only on what benefits me or others, that is, do not squander anything.
- . – Do not waste time in vain; to be always busy with something useful, to refuse all unnecessary actions.
- . – Do not cause harmful deceit, have pure and fair thoughts; in a conversation also adhere to this rule.
- . “Do no harm to anyone, do no injustice, and do not omit the good deeds that are among your duties.
- Moderation. – Avoid extremes; restrain, as far as you consider it appropriate, the feeling of resentment from injustices.
- Purity. - Avoid bodily impurity; observe neatness in clothing and housing.
- . – Do not worry about trifles and about ordinary or inevitable cases.
- Chastity. - Indulge in love pleasures not often, only for the sake of health or procreation, never do it to the point of stupefaction, exhaustion, and also to the detriment of one's own or someone else's reputation.
- . “Imitate Jesus and Socrates.”
This list does not pretend to be universal and will not suit many, but for the beginning life of 22-year-old Ben Franklin, he was working and needed.
Franklin was sure that if he managed to remain faithful to the chosen quality for a week, it would become a habit and it would be possible to move on to the next virtue, and each time he would allow fewer deviations from the ideal. Misdemeanors were marked as black dots on the calendar until the transformation was completed, after which, Franklin was sure, he would need only periodic "examination and repair" of ingrained morality.
The plan succeeded to some extent. At first he repeated this cycle several times in a row, then he appointed himself one course annually, and then every few years. But the virtue of Order - "Let all things lie in their places and each case has its own time" - so eluded him. Franklin had no natural inclination to keep papers and other possessions in strict order, and the effort to maintain order was given to him with such difficulty that he almost gave up. In addition, his business, the printing press, constantly demanded attention, and Franklin could not always follow the tight schedule he had planned. The ideal daily routine, also included in the little "virtue diary", looked like this:
PLAN
Was his system successful? We list only the main ones. As a scientist, Benjamin Franklin explored the nature of electricity, invented a lightning rod and created a capacitor bank, introduced the designation of electric polarity "+" and "-" into physics, put forward the concept of an electric motor, invented bifocal glasses, studied flow, width, depth (and gave this name! ) of the Gulf Stream. As a politician, he was the only one who sealed with his signature all three of the most important historical documents that underlie the formation of the United States of America. This is p First American to become a foreign member of the Russian Academy of Sciences.When he died, about 20 thousand people gathered for his funeral.
How many people will remember you?