enjamin Franklin House and Science

Benjamin Franklin House has witnessed many significant innovations and discoveries.

During his time at Craven Street (between 1757 and 1775), Benjamin Franklin conducted numerous important experiments at 36 Craven Street such as measuring the effects of the Gulf Stream, exploring Daylight Saving Time and inventing bi-focal lenses. One of his inventions, the glass armonica, is an instrument for which Mozart, Bach, and Beethoven composed.

The House also served as the anatomy school of the pioneering anatomist William Hewson, who married Polly, the daughter of Franklin’s landlady Margaret Stevenson in 1770. Basement excavations in 1998 revealed over 1200 cut and trepanned bones, apparently discarded following student dissections. The bones are now being catalogued by scientists at the University of London's Institute of Archaeology and provide fascinating information about the history of surgery.

Today Benjamin Franklin House offers a Student Science Centre encompassing the Medical History Room, the Discovery Room and the Demonstration Room.