Ben Franklin Stilled the Waves An Informal History of Pouring Oil on Water with Reflections on the Ups and Downs of Scientific Life in General
When Ben Franklin watched the calming effect of a drop of oil on the waves & ripples of a London pond, he was observing what Pliny the Elder & generations of seafarers had done before him. Franklin, though, was the first to investigate this strange phenomenon. Following Franklin's lead, a crowd of scientists over the next two centuries chose to investigate the nature of atoms & molecules through the interaction of fluid membranes. They included Lord Rayleigh, an English lord, Agnes Pockels, one of the earliest women to make lasting contributions to science, the renowned Dutch pediatrician Evert Gorter, & Irving Langmuir, a great industrial scientist. Their work has culminated in the discovery of the structure of cell membranes. Illustrations.