Dear all, As many of you probably know the idea of Summer Time (or Daylight Saving Time) was first conceived in 1784 by the versatile American scientist Benjamin Franklin during his sojourn as an American delegate in Paris.
I think that I have located the original text of his proposal in a letter to the "Journal de Paris" in which he calculates that the inhabitants of Paris could annually save more 96 million livres of candles and lamp oil if they would rise with the Sun during the summer months and not several hours later as was the custom. The full text of Franklin's letter can be found in: Goodman, N.G., The Ingenious Dr. Franklin: Selected Scientific Letters of Benjamin Franklin (University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 1931), pp. 17-22 and probably in other sources as well. This is all probably very well known but checking the internet with keywords "Benjamin Franklin" and "summer time", I only find web sites which repeatedly refer to Franklin's whimsical essay entitled "Turkey vs. Eagle, McCauley is my Beagle" and not to the "Journal de Paris". I have not yet been able to locate this essay (it may even be a letter to his daughter Sarah?) and from other secondary sources I was given to understand that it rather discusses Franklin's proposal to adopt a turkey instead of an eagle as the emblem of the United States. Is there anyone on the list who knows the full story and how relevant Franklin's turkey/eagle essay is on this matter? Thanks in advance, ======================================================== * Robert H. van Gent * Tel/Fax: 00-31-30-2720269 * * Zaagmolenkade 50 * * * 3515 AE Utrecht * E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * * The Netherlands * * ******************************************************** * Homepage: http://www.phys.uu.nl/~vgent/homepage.htm * ========================================================
