Stealing God's Thunder

Benjamin Franklin's Lightning Rod and the Invention of America

By: Philip Dray

Narrated by: David Chandler

Award-winning author Philip Dray delves into the lesser-known side of an American icon in Stealing God's Thunder. Benjamin Franklin, more often viewed as a statesman and founding father than as a man of science, challenged religion, science, and reason with his inventions. But in a time when everything was blamed on sin, it was the lightning rod, Franklin's attempt to control the heavens, that caused the greatest controversy.©2005 Philip Dray (P)2006 Recorded Books

Critic reviews

"Dray provides not only a masterful glimpse of this aspect of Franklin's work but also a captivating cultural history of Franklin's America." (Publishers Weekly)
"Tracing Franklin's beliefs through science, Dray's congenial history has information that will surprise even veteran Franklin fans." (Booklist)

Thought-provoking historical biography

This is not a traditional biography of Benjamin Franklin, but gives insights into this remarkable man which many biographies don't. The book presents an investigation of how scientific inquiry dealt with superstition and tradition in the 18th century, particulary as early investigations into electricity were discovering its power and danger. I enjoyed the introduction to Franklin's remarkably inquisitive mind, and the narrative of events leading to the several inventions which advanced understanding of electricity and other related issues (hot air balloons, the glass harmonica, Mersmer's medical treatments, etc.). There were occasional diversions which dragged a bit, but overall I found the writing excellent and the narration effective.

Eye opening and informative

Where does Stealing God's Thunder rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is among the best books I've had the opportunity to listen to so far on Audible. Dray moves briskly through Franklin's life and gives the reader a fascinating window into the scientific activities he was engaged in AND how they affected his role as a political leader. Highly recommend this recording for other audible customers!

Fascinating

Oh my but I love Ben Franklin, and let me tell you generally getting me to read American history is like pulling teeth. Its not that I didnt like American history its just after years of it in high school, AP exams and college you kinda think maybe the thousands of years of history in the rest of the world need some looking into. This didnt bore me at all and made everything seem new and exciting. There are a few repetitive bits but almost all of the best reviewed books of this genre are like that (the clockwork universe for example, great read). Ben Franklin is funny and such an amazing man and this time in history is enthralling as well (if you havent overdone it). It is also always fun to laugh at the mistakes of the past (lightning rods piss off god and cause earthquakes) as long as we realize we are likely being equally stupid today. I do wish the author had gone into even more of Franklin's other scientific interests. I loved learning about Franklin's views on slavery as they evolved throughout his life. I think this is a great, quick listen that is read well and will keep most people interested.

Informative, Interesting, Entertaining

Franklin is and was a marvel of complex interests and a simple desire to help his fellow Creatures.

Well performed. Well researched. This work 'Pokes and Prods' into many skipped over areas of Ben's life. I enjoyed it greatly.

Boring

I am a big fan of history books including long reads (Truman is one of my favorites at over 50 hours), but I was very disappointed at how this book dragged along. I must admit that I didn't even download the second part of this book and probably never will.