5 Doing Good

Chapter 5 Doing Good "What is serving God?" Poor Richard asked in 1747. His answer: "Doing good to Man." After retiring from printing, Ben Franklin tried to do just that. He had always liked science. Electricity fascinated him. Besides doing his kite experiment, Ben made an early electric battery. In fact, he coined the terms electric battery, electric shock, and conductor.

第五章行善“什么是事奉神？”1747年，可怜的理查德问道。 他的回答是：“为人类做好事。” 从印刷业退休后，本·富兰克林试图做到这一点。 他一向喜欢科学。 电使他着迷。 除了做风筝实验，本还做了一个早期的电池。 事实上，他创造了电池、电击和导体等术语。

EARLY BATTERY-MAKING ELECTROSTATIC MACHINE A REVOLVING GLASS GLOBE RUBS A PIECE OF SOFT LEATHER CALLED A CHAMOIS TO PRODUCE STATIC ELECTRICITY. SEWING NEEDLES TRANSFER THE ELECTRIC CHARGE FROM THE GLOBE TO THE LEYDEN JARS.

早期制造电池的静电机器是一个旋转的玻璃球摩擦一块被称为麂皮的柔软皮革来产生静电。 缝纫针将电荷从地球仪转移到莱顿罐上。

THE CHARGE IS CARRIED DOWN INTO THE JAR THROUGH A ROD AND WIRES TO THE WATER AND METAL FOIL INSIDE. THIS CAUSES AN OPPOSITE CHARGE TO FORM ON A BAND OF METAL FOIL ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE JAR. LEYDEN JAR MULTIPLE LEYDEN JARS ARE CONNECTED TO PRODUCE THIS 18-THCENTURY ELECTRICAL CHARGE STORAGE DEVICE.

电荷通过一根杆子和电线进入罐子里的水和金属箔。 这使得在罐子外面的金属箔带上形成相反的电荷。 莱顿罐多个莱顿罐连接在一起，形成了这个18世纪的电荷存储装置。

Ben once tried to cook a turkey using electricity from Leyden jars. Unfortunately he touched the wires and knocked himself out. "I wanted to cook a turkey but I nearly killed a goose," he joked. Still, he believed that one day people would cook and do other daily tasks with electricity. He was right, of course!

本曾经尝试用莱顿罐的电来煮火鸡。 不幸的是，他碰到了电线，把自己打晕了。 他开玩笑说：“我想做一只火鸡，但我差点杀了一只鹅。” 尽管如此，他相信总有一天人们会用电做饭和做其他日常工作。 他当然是对的！

On his voyages, Franklin became the first scientist to study a powerful ocean current. He named it the Gulf Stream. Ben found that it could slow down or speed up ships. The Gulf Stream was warmer than the water around it, Franklin learned. To find the Gulf Stream, sailors just had to dip a thermometer into the ocean. Franklin did a clever experiment with heat. He got many cloth patches from a tailor. They were different colors—black, blue, green, purple, red, yellow, and white. On a sunny winter morning he laid the patches on the snow. After a while, he saw that the black patch had sunk the deepest into the snow. The white patch had sunk the least. Why? Dark colors take in more heat from the sun than light ones. Therefore the black cloth had melted more snow than any of the other colored cloths. To this day, people take Franklin's advice. On hot, sunny days they wear light colors to stay cool.

在他的航行中，富兰克林成为第一位研究强大洋流的科学家。 他将其命名为墨西哥湾流。 本发现它可以使船只减速或加速。 富兰克林了解到，墨西哥湾暖流比它周围的水要温暖。 为了找到墨西哥湾暖流，水手们只需要把温度计浸入海洋。 富兰克林对热做了一个聪明的实验。 他从裁缝那里得到许多布补丁。 它们有不同的颜色——黑色、蓝色、绿色、紫色、红色、黄色和白色。 在一个阳光明媚的冬日早晨，他把这些补丁铺在雪地上。 过了一会儿，他看到那块黑色的地方陷在雪里最深的地方。 那块白色的地方下沉得最少。 为什么?深色比浅色从太阳吸收更多的热量。 因此，黑布比其他任何颜色的布融化的雪都要多。 直到今天，人们还是采纳了富兰克林的建议。 在炎热、阳光明媚的日子里，他们穿浅色衣服来保持凉爽。

Ben's ideas about health were very modern. At the time, people thought that strange vapors in the air caused illness. Although germs weren't yet known, Franklin said that many diseases were spread from person to person. Fresh air was healthy, he argued. People should sleep with an open window. And they should take a daily "air bath." This meant sitting naked with the windows open—as Ben did for an hour each day. He also told people to exercise. Besides swimming and walking, he lifted dumbbells until he was in his eighties.

本的健康观念非常现代。 当时，人们认为空气中的奇怪蒸汽会导致疾病。 虽然当时还不知道细菌，但富兰克林说，许多疾病都是在人与人之间传播的。 他认为，新鲜空气对健康有益。 人们应该开着窗户睡觉。 他们应该每天“空气浴”。 这意味着光着身子，开着窗户，就像本每天做的那样，坐一个小时。 他还告诉人们要锻炼。 除了游泳和散步，他还举哑铃直到八十多岁。