Lightning Conductors: Their History, Nature, and Mode of Application

There is one subject in regard to the proper protection of buildings against the destructive effects of lightning which is generally overlooked, at least in this country, to a r...

The accidents that occur annually from the effects of lightning are far greater in number and extent than is generally supposed. Although the art of protecting buildings by mean...

In its essence there cannot be anything more elementary than the theory of protection against lightning. It is simply to lay a metallic line from the top of a building, or other...

To dwell too largely upon the importance of leading all lightning conductors down into moist earth, or, as technically called, ‘good earth,’ would be scarcely possible. It would...

‘First let me talk with this philosopher: What is the cause of thunder?’ asks Shakspeare in ‘King Lear’ but without giving a reply. The ‘philosopher’ of Shakspeare’s days had no...

In singular contrast with the burst of applause with which the whole scientific world of Europe received the great discovery of Benjamin Franklin, was the extreme slowness of th...

In singular contrast with what took place in France, the importance of lightning conductors never created any but the most languid interest in England. Neither the Government, n...

In this chapter it is proposed to give a brief _résumé_ of the different systems of constructing, erecting, and repairing lightning conductors in France and America. The laws of...

In the history of human inventions and discoveries, the idea of the lightning conductor is almost the sole one which sprang, all but perfect, from one brain, like Minerva, in Gr...

From our present ignorance of the actual nature of electricity, admitted alike by all scientific men, it has often been argued that no claim can be set up for a perfect protecti...

M. POUILLET. Instruction sur les Paratonnerres du Louvre et des Tuileries, rédigée au nom d’une Commission par feu M. Pouillet, lue et approuvée par l’Académie des Sciences. Com...

‘The art of protection against lightning,’ says a recent German writer, in a book on conductors, ‘is precisely the same now as it was a hundred years ago: still, it has made imm...

It is well remarked by Arago, that although we know nothing about lightning, beyond the well-ascertained fact that it is one of the manifestations of the equally vast and myster...

The first actual lightning conductor ever constructed was set up by Benjamin Franklin himself, at his house in Philadelphia. Its main object was to protect the house against the...

The systems of lightning-conductors used for the protection of the Hôtel de Ville and Westminster Palace seem worthy of separate description, as showing the methods employed by...

With that liberality which distinguishes all truly great minds, Benjamin Franklin did not keep his great discoveries to himself, but communicated them to others in the most open...

Although such an opinion seems scarcely orthodox, it may, and not unreasonably, be doubted whether weathercocks are of any great use in demonstrating the direction of the wind....