THE MODERN THEORIES OF ELECTRICITY 



AND THEIR RELATION TO THE 



FRANKLINIAN THEORY 



By Professor Ernest Rutherford, F.R.S. 



[Address delivered in Witherspoon Hall, Wednesday, April i8.] 



I AM very much honored by the invitation of the 

 American Philosophical Society to take part as a 

 foreign representative in the celebrations in honor of 

 the memory of its distinguished founder, Benjamain 

 Franklin. I feel, however, that it is only in the strictly 

 formal sense that I can be regarded as a foreign repre- 

 sentative. When I recall that Franklin, during the 

 period of his greatest scientific activity, was a citizen 

 of that nation to which I have the honor to belong, it 

 seems to me quite natural that the English people should 

 vie with that of America in generous rivalry in doing 

 honor to the contributions made by Franklin to scientific 

 knowledge. May we not justly regard the scientific 

 achievements of Benjamin Franklin as the joint heritage 

 and pride of the English speaking peoples? 



In reviewing the life of Franklin, one cannot fail to 

 be impressed by the many-sidedness of the activities dis- 

 played by him during his long career. But there is no 



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