Sometimes we humans can come up with some fantastic ideas. Take the now cliched, sliced bread, or Velcro, the zipper, buttons, self-lighting charcoal, box cutters, scissors, washers, dryers, and all those little things. What would life be like without them? What would life be like if we never had any of our little inventions? Paper clips, safety pins, slippers – all gone. We take for granted all these little things, and some of the big ones, like telephones, electricity, indoor toilets, television, coffee makers, microwaves, and computers. The aging baby boomers know what life is like without some of these things, but the generations of the last twenty years don’t have a clue.

Then, there are the bad inventions. These either aren’t useful or just break. And some inventions need constant attention despite all our technology, or aren’t good for the environment. Lots of stuff was invented before we understood all the problems that would result. Like asbestos, lead pencils, crappy tar roof shingles, and things like that. Some of this stuff obviously wasn’t meant for us to live with despite their function. Either they will make us sick, or in the case of the tar shingles, you have to call out your local Sacramento roofing contractor to get things fixed every eight years of suffer the consequences of moldy, leaky roofs or lose heat because it’s letting all the air out. So, what’s this all about really? Just thoughts about inventions – what works, what doesn’t, the effect on our lives – good or bad, and feeling both the awe of the amazing ones, and the bewilderment of the ones we keep using even though they aren’t worth it.

If you take a look at the long list of Benjamin Franklin inventions you will soon realize that he was a man of lots of talents. He was a very interesting individual. Many people say that the fact that Franklin was a scientist made his inventing particularly successful. He was a man who was very curious about the workings of the world around us. He has many questions, and rather than waiting for someone else to tell him the answer, he got out there and sought them for himself. Benjamin Franklin is often credited as having invented electricity. While this is, of course, not true, he was the person behind the invention of the lightning rod. This was a very important invention which prevented lightning from striking buildings and ships.

Before this invention people would simply have a fire place in their home, which was less efficient and more dangerous than a stove. Franklin was responsible for the English starting to use watertight compartments in their ships. This would help to prevent any water from coming in and sinking the ship, should the hull be breached. Since he was a postmaster, Franklin invented a type of odometer that he could attach to his carriage. This would tell him how far he had travelled, and allow him to keep track of his the distance which he went. When Franklin retired he wanted nothing more than to spend his spare time studying and reading. However, he soon discovered that he was unable to reach the books at the top of his shelves. Franklin had lots of grandchildren who could have helped him, but he wanted to be independent. He invented a long arm with was a device that could reach up and collect the books from the top of his shelves. There are many Benjamin Franklin inventions which have helped make life easier for us all.