Benjamin Franklin's 300th birthday (one day late)

Yesterday was the 300th anniversary of Ben Franklin's birth. The official tercentenary website is here.

Physics Today has a couple memorial articles in its January 2006 issue. I read a really neat article on the calming effects of oil on water. (A longer version of the article is apparently posted on the website above.) This had a long history among seamen before Franklin first noticed this on a ship (yielding much smoother wakes) as a result of the emptying of greasy water overboard. Franklin proceeded to do a bunch of influential scientific experiments on this phenomenon. The other article (which I haven't yet had a chance to read) concerns electricity.

Also in this issue of Physics Today is a very funny comic cell concerning Kansas. (I've posted this on the door of my office.) It's in their blurb about the victory for evolution in Pennsylvania and the setback in Kansas.

All of you who are institutionalized will be able to use your university's subscription. For the rest of you, there's always the Ben Franklin tercentenary site.