tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post7423347674865962603..comments2024-03-28T04:26:30.557-05:00Comments on Boston 1775: A Letter of Recommendation for the Baron de SteubenUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-44964719906245041262018-08-04T21:42:43.540-05:002018-08-04T21:42:43.540-05:00I first read about Franklin and his cane when I wa...I first read about Franklin and his cane when I was a kid chewing up books about old magic tricks. It was presented (complete with line drawing) as Franklin making a few passes over a lake and still the waves as if by magic when he was really just dispensing oil from his cane. <br /><br />When I looked up sources for that story as part of writing this post, I didn’t find anything to suggest Franklin tried to fool people that way. As written, he could simply have been a crank telling strangers, “Look what happens when I spill oil onto a lake! I happen to have some oil right here…” J. L. Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405157000473731801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-38237717959603221752018-07-28T09:14:44.442-05:002018-07-28T09:14:44.442-05:00I've gotta be honest, I never knew the Ben Fra...I've gotta be honest, I never knew the Ben Franklin oil / cane story, and doubted that the oil on water trick even worked. It's a bad day when you don't learn anything new, and today I learned two things, somthank you. Check out:<br /><br />https://www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/nvwtp-sci-oilwaves/wgbh-nova-what-the-physics-how-oil-calms-wavesG. Lovelynoreply@blogger.com