University Libraries Promotion and Tenure Recognition

This now relatively rare edition of Franklin’s first publication on electricity, his 1751 Experiments and Observations on Electricity, was a very important milestone in the study of Benjamin Franklin in the twentieth century. In a highly informed introduction designed for modern audiences, Cohen addressed the significance of Franklin’s findings and the importance of their circulation in the middle eighteenth century. I. Bernard Cohen was the first scholar in the U.S. to achieve a Ph.D. in the new field of the history of science. An internationally recognized scholar of Newton, Cohen spent his career at Harvard University, where he designed and developed a program in the history of science. His interests in science ranged from Newton and physics to computers and public policy. He served as President of the History of Science Society in addition to serving as the President of the International Union of the History of Philosophy and Science. This book was a significant contribution by a major scholar in the field, an exemplary instance of an acclaimed scholar working on and elucidating an acclaimed text.