he Scholarship Centre is located on the top floor of the House and is a centre for study of the many subjects Franklin pursued. Small changing exhibitions will explore themes related to Franklin and the Enlightenment.

US, UK and other scholars have access - using print and online services - to the nearly 40 volumes of Franklin's writings produced, with analysis by scholars based at Yale University, thanks to support from the US Embassy London.

NB: Access to the Scholarship Centre will be by appointment. For more information, please email: info@benjaminfranklinhouse.org.

A key initiative of the Scholarship Centre is the annual Benjamin Franklin House Symposium in Association with The Eccles Centre, an event which features leading names in such diverse fields as science, politics and business to discuss issues inspired by Franklin's life and work.

Topics of previous Symposia have been Franklin and the Media's Role in Global Affairs, Benjamin Franklin and the Human Genome, and Benjamin Franklin Design and Innovation.  This year the theme is Benjamin Franklin and the Globalisation of Science featuring the eminent scientist, Dr. Richard Horton, Editor of the Lancet.  To find out more, telephone +44 (0)20 7839 2006.

2007 Benjamin Franklin House Symposium

We were honoured to have Sir Harry Kroto, a Nobel Prize winning scientist, feature in this year’s Benjamin Franklin House Symposium, held in association with the Eccles Centre for American Studies at the British Library, on 7 August.

Sir Harry was knighted in 1996 for his contributions to chemistry – with colleagues he discovered C60 Buckminsterfullerene, a new form of carbon.  Franklin would have liked the association with such a kindred spirit.  As he has noted, “I have ended up a supporter of ideologies which advocate the right of the individual to speak, think and write in freedom and safety (surely the bedrock of a civilised society).” 

He took as his theme Science, Society and Sustainability: what science is, how people, the media, politicians and others perceive science and scientists and some of the problems non-scientists have in understanding science, engineering and technology.

He began by sharing how he fell in love with science when he discovered the essence of the discipline is the "quest for beautiful patterns."  He highlighted areas he sees as essential for future research including highly sustainable technologies like solar electricity and genetic developments like seedlings that can fix their own nitrogen.  In response to a question on whether nanotechnology bodes good or ill for society, he argued that science is never intrinsically bad, "it's the use that men put to it."

He is passionate about furthering scientific understanding and established The Vega Scientific Trust and Global Educational Outreach (GEO) to allow young researchers to explain their science to young people around the world through the Internet.  Says Sir Harry, “we are pioneering new ways of using the Internet to get the next generation of children to work together to address some of humanity’s most pressing problems. After all if the future is in anyone’s hands it’s in theirs.”