A Dangerous Engine: Benjamin Franklin, From Scientist To Diplomat

From the author and illustrator of "The Longitude Prize," a Robert F. Sibert Honor Book, comes another story of adventure and invention, of Benjamin Franklin's curiosity and the extraordinary rewards of his discoveries. Illustrations.

At the time of his famous kite experiment, Benjamin Franklin
was unaware that his theories about electricity had already
made him a celebrity all over Europe, especially in France,
where fashionable circles loved to discuss scientific discovery.
Admired by the French court and beloved by French citizens,
Franklin effectively became America's first foreign diplomat,
later helping to enlist France's military and financial support for
the American Revolution. A father of the revolution and a
signer of the Constitution, Franklin was a lightning rod in
political circles - "a dangerous Engine," according to a critic.
And although he devoted the last twenty-five years of his life
to affairs of state, his first love was always science. Handsome
pen-and-ink drawings highlight moments in this revolutionary
thinker's life. From the author and illustrator of "The Longitude Prize," a Robert
F. Sibert Honor Book and winner of the "Boston"" Globe-Horn"
"Book "Award, comes another story of adventure and invention,
of one man's curiosity and the extraordinary rewards of his
discoveries, just in time to celebrate the 300th anniversary of
his birth (January 17, 1706).