h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

QI: Taming the Forces of Nature

As everyone knows, the eminent scientist Benjamin Franklin famously once flew a metallic kite in a thunderstorm, so proving that lightning was naturally occurring electricity (more at A520200).

But what was his proposal for taming the wind?

Icy


(ps. I'm not sure how well this one's known - please keep stumm if it's obvious )

A cork up the jacksie?

Eat fewer lentils?

I'll get me coat...

Instead of flying a kite in an electrical storm, he proposed flying an electric motor in a wind storm.

No?

I might know this. Obviously, I won't know for certain that I know it until the answer is revealed, but I do remember one proposed method of wind-taming which may or may not be the venerable Ben's.

I'll keep quiet for now.


Geggs

He built windtraps?

Did he give each of his hundreds of slaves a bag in which to catch the wind, before retiring to put his name to a hypocritical document that pretended all men were created equal?

I can't tell from Geggs' post 6 whether or not he knows the answer. It has the whiff of intrigue about it. Can you give a clue?

I'll leave this one going for a little longer, as nobody's sprung a klaxon yet

Klaxon Bait: Did he suggest using Kites in some way?

(I won't say Windmills, as these were in use some considerable time before BF).

Leave a clue? I'll have to think about how to word it. Admittedly the idea I'm thinking of is barking, so it might not be Ben's.


Geggs

Barking? Something to do with Seals flying Kites while chasing Dogs on treadmills?

Was it something like the water pumping windmill?

http://www.ironmanwindmill.com/


lil xx

I'm not really looking for ways to harness wind, rather ways to reduce the strength of it (if that helps?)

Blowing very hard in the opposite direction?

No, but hold that thought. I might ask a corollary question later

I don't think this was Franklin's idea, but I've read about how two lines of trees near a house can help with heating and cooling. You plant a line of evergreens to the North of the house to block the winter winds, and a line of leafy shade trees to the South (Northern hemisphere specific, reverse for antipodeans) which will block the sun in the summer, but allow it to warm the home in the winter.

I suspect Orcus is closer that he realises.

Wasn't Franklin the man who came up with the concept of odour-neutral suppositories?

No...really.

B

Yes, really. We have a winner!

Mu Beta is correct (mostly). In the 1770s, Franklin concerned himself greatly with the problem of how to neutralise the odour of flatulence (or, to put it in other words, the strength of the wind).

When the Royal Academy of Brussels announced it was to fund a prize for 'useful science', Franklin wrote them a letter urging them to consider this very topic. He didn't suggest suppositories as such, rather a dietary solution:

"...My Prize Question therefore should be, To discover some Drug wholesome & not disagreable, to be mix'd with our common Food, or Sauces, that shall render the natural Discharges of Wind from our Bodies, not only inoffensive, but agreable as Perfumes".

The letter itself is side-splittingly funny, yet for some unfathomable reason isn't more widely known. Fortunately, you can read it online here:

http://mith.umd.edu/eada/html/display.php?docs=franklin_bagatelle2.xml&action=show

Enjoy