Benjamin Franklin

Sure, almost all kids know Benjamin Franklin as one of America's Founding Fathers, a man with a hand in both the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution. And they may even have some vague idea that he once flew a kite during a lightning storm. What Kathleen Krull sets out to do in this very different biography is show Ben Franklin as the &quote;natural philosopher&quote; (the term for scientists back in the 1700s), whose experiments led to important discoveries about the nature of electricity-including his famous demonstration that electricity and lightning were one and the same.As always, this much-lauded series presents a true Giant of Science in a juicily anecdotal way. This is social history at its best ... who knew that Franklin became such a megastar that Paris shops sold Ben dolls, Ben ashtrays, and even Ben wallpaper?Witty and engaging, this is a worthy addition to the Giants of Science series.