A fascinating and revealing new book looks back on the inventor, writer, publisher and president’s scientific work

Asked how he came to write Ingenious, his new biography of Benjamin Franklin presenting the American founder in light of his work as a scientist, the author and clean energy advocate Richard Munson offers “two reasons. One is that I’ve been fascinated with innovators. My last book looked at Nikola Tesla, who brought us the electric motor, radio remote control, the list goes on. And Franklin just seemed like another remarkable individual who brought new ideas to life.

“But it also struck me that at this time with our modern politics, he has great relevance – while there’s a growing group of activists that dismiss science and reject facts. Franklin was saying: ‘There’s nothing more important than experimentation, observation, verifiable analysis.’