LETTERS 



nature.net 



(Continued from page 12) 

 Christine M lot's article ["Alaska's 

 Underground Frontier," 4/06] is a 

 fitting tribute to those often unsung 

 heroes. The Microbial Observatories 

 program, funded by the U.S. Na- 

 tional Science Foundation, is an 

 important starting point, but lists of 

 taxa and the discovery of new diver- 

 sity are less important than increas- 

 ing the understanding of how 

 microorganisms interact with one 

 another and their environment as 

 they grow, reproduce, and survive in 

 soil. Microbial responses to environ- 

 mental change may be particularly 

 critical. In northern latitudes, for in- 

 stance, the fungal response to climate 

 warming may determine to what 

 extent permafrost soils will release 

 carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, 

 creating a positive feedback to 

 greenhouse warming. 

 Teri C. Balser 



University of Wisconsin— Madison 

 Minnie Diva 



Not all mice sing in an ultrasonic voice 

 ["Samplings: Melodious Mice," 2/06]. 

 In 1 932, when I was about fifteen, my 

 parents, my four siblings, and I saw a 

 mouse that sang like a canary When 

 we first heard it, it was inside a wall 

 space about six inches wide, between 

 the living room and the kitchen, and 

 we were puzzled about how a canary 

 had gotten into the space. Almost 

 every night for a few weeks we heard 

 the song. One night the song sounded 

 much louder. There in the doorway 

 between the living room and the 

 kitchen was a mouse, sitting on its 

 haunches, singing its canarylike song. 

 We heard it many times thereafter, 

 but we never saw it again. 

 Harrison C. Mondy 

 Pasadena, California 



Natural History welcomes correspondence 

 from readers. Letters should be sent via 

 e-mail to nhmag@naturalhistorymag.com 

 or by fax to 646-356-651 1 . AH letters 

 should include a daytime telephone number, 

 and all letters may be edited for length 

 and clarity. 



Ben's 300th 



By Robert Anderson 



Years ago, when I was walking 

 through the Paris neighborhood 

 of St.-Germain-des-Pres, a bronze 

 plaque caught my attention. More 

 precisely, it was the name that caught 

 my eye: Benjamin Franklin. On Sep- 

 tember 3, 1783, the plaque noted, at 

 56 Rue Jacob, Franklin, John Jay, and 

 John Adams signed the Treaty of Paris, 

 George Ill's formal recognition of the 

 colonies' independence. 



Only now, however, as I check out 

 the Web sites that mark the 300th an- 

 niversary of Franklin's birth, have I 

 come to fully appreciate how he 

 reached that triumphant moment. Al- 

 though Franklin was a well-spoken 

 gentleman and a successful business- 

 man, his fame as a scientist was his en- 

 tree to European society. It gave him 

 the clout to secure the French aid so 

 critical to keeping the War of Inde- 

 pendence afloat. Thus his experi- 

 ments with electricity led, albeit indi- 

 rectly, to the birth of the United States. 



Not surprisingly, Franklin, one of 

 the most widely recognized Ameri- 

 cans of his age, has a huge Web pres- 

 ence. Start with the tercentennial site 

 (benfranklin300.com), created by a con- 

 sortium of Philadelphia-based institu- 

 tions. The section titled "Useful 

 Knowledge" delves into his scientific 

 accomplishments. Back on the main 

 menu bar, click "Et Cetera" and you'll 

 find a link to the best list of annotated 

 Franklin links on the Internet. 



Franklin continued to dabble in sci- 

 ence while representing Pennsylvania 

 in London from 1757 until 1775. The 

 Franklin Institute, a Philadelphia 

 science museum famous for hands- 

 on learning, has a self-guided tour 

 of Franklin's contributions (fi.edu/ 

 franklin/tour). At the American Philo- 

 sophical Society (our nation's oldest 

 science institution, founded by 

 Franklin in 1 743), a special exhibit fo- 

 cuses on Franklin's little-known rela- 



tionship with a Russian princess 

 named Ekaterina Dashkova forged to 

 promote the exchange of scientific 

 knowledge (www.amphilsoc.org/exhibi 

 tions/princess.html). 



Myths still surround many of 

 Franklin's achievements, some need- 

 lessly embellishing his work. For ex- 

 ample, some people still credit him 

 with discovering the Gulf Stream, 

 when in fact he only charted it with 

 temperature measurements during 

 his many Atlantic crossings. At oceans 

 oniine.com/ben_franklin.htm you'll get 

 the full story. 



At ushistory.org/franklin click on "The 

 Kite Experiment" for a rundown on 

 his work on electricity. The Public 

 Broadcasting Corporation has an in- 

 teractive version of Franklin's most fa- 

 mous experiment, where you can fly 

 a virtual kite yourself using diverse 

 materials in a variety of weather con- 

 ditions. (From www.pbs.org/benfranklin 

 click on "Explore" and then on the 

 unit "How Shocking.") Contrary to 

 popular belief, lightning was not in- 

 volved in Franklin's experiment. He 

 knew enough to avoid it. 



My favorite Franklin site, however, 

 was created by one Robert A. Morse 

 while a fellow at the Wright Center for 

 Science Education at Tufts University 

 (tufts.edu/as/wright_center/feliows/bob_ 

 morse_04/). In nine lessons titled "Ben 

 Franklin As My Lab Partner," Morse 

 explains how to reproduce Franklin's 

 electrostatic experiments. The lessons 

 are accompanied by thirteen video 

 clips that show how to build the ap- 

 paratus with ordinary items such as 

 aluminum foil, Christmas tinsel, pen- 

 cils, and Styrofoam cups. If all the 

 grade school science teachers across 

 the country exposed their students to 

 the fun of these lessons, Franklin's sci- 

 entific contributions might gain the 

 broad appreciation they deserve. I 

 can't think of a better way to celebrate 

 Ben's 300th birthday than generating 

 a few sparks. 



Robert Anderson is a freelance science 

 writer living in Los Angeles. 



NATURAL HISTORY June 2006 



