id	author	title	date	pages	extension	mime	words	sentence	flesch	summary	cache	txt
hom-8	Krider, E. Philip	Benjamin Franklin and the First Lightning Conductors	2004	13	.pdf	application/pdf	4655	195	64	Conclusion Today most authorities agree that the main functions of lightning rods and the associated conductors are to define and control the points where lightning will attach to a structure and then to provide safe paths for the current to flow to ground.25 In his reply to Kinnersley in 1762, Franklin noted that “Indeed, in the construction of an instrument so new, and of which we could have so little experience, it is rather lucky that we should at first be so near the truth as we seem to be, and commit so few errors.” Here, we will trace how Franklin’s ideas evolved and the design of the first protective rods, and then we will describe some key improvements that Franklin made to his design, after experience was gained through practice in the years from 1752 to 1762. Experiments and Observations in Philadelphia Benjamin Franklin and his colleagues6 began experimenting with static electricity in about 1746, after they saw some electrical demonstrations and parlor tricks that were then popular in Europe.	cache/hom-8.pdf	txt/hom-8.txt