By means of an iron rod he brought down electricity into his house, where he studied its effect upon bells and concluded that clouds were generally negatively electrified.

In June, 1752, he performed the famous experiment with the kite, drawing down electricity from the clouds and charging a Leyden jar from the key at the end of the string.
Franklin's letters to Collinson were read before the Royal Society but were unnoticed.

Collinson gathered them together, and they were published in a pamphlet which attracted wide attention.

Translated into French, they created great excitement, and Franklin's conclusions were generally accepted by the scientific men of Europe.

The Royal Society, tardily awakened, elected Franklin a member and in 1753 awarded him the Copley medal with a complimentary address.* * It may be useful to mention some of the scientific facts and mechanical principles which were known to Europeans at this time.
More than one learned essay has been written to prove the mechanical indebtedness of the modern world to the ancient, particularly to the works of those mechanically minded Greeks: Archimedes, Aristotle, Ctesibius, and Hero of Alexandria.