Benjamin Franklin: father of DST? |
Today,
the vast majority of Americans went through another much-hated time
change. With all of the grumblings about having to switch the clocks
and lose an hour of sleep, one very famous name often gets injected
into the conversation: Benjamin Franklin. Why? Many people blame
Franklin for the idea of setting the clocks ahead. But is he really
to blame?
Short
answer: no. Long answer: much more interesting.
See Also: The True History of Daylight Savings Time
See Also: The True History of Daylight Savings Time
The
whole idea of blaming Benjamin Franklin for the advent of DST is
rooted in a letter he wrote while serving as an envoy to France. The
author of the maxim “early to bed, early to rise, makes a man
healthy, wealthy, and wise” was clearly not seeing this in Paris.
The entire city seemed out of sync with nature as many residents
stayed up long after dark and burned through enormous numbers of
candles and then proceeded to completely sleep the morning away the
following day.
It
was this lack of following the natural cycle of things that bothered
Franklin, who saw staying up long past nightfall as wasteful as
little constructive activities could be done then and sleeping away
half the morning, prime time for getting things done, as a double
waste of valuable time.
Then
Franklin, tongue planted firmly in cheek, picked up a pen.
In
his letter to the Journal of Paris, signed only 'a
subscriber,' Franklin proposes a novel idea to eliminate all of the
wasted candles: going to bed earlier, which would also lead people to
wake up earlier and thus be able to make full use of the morning. He
also humorously suggests limiting people to 1 pound of candles a
week, posting guards in front of candle shops, banning all carriage
traffic after dark save medical professionals, and ringing all the
church bells at sunrise. Church bells not doing the job? Fire cannons
in the street to wake the 'sluggards.'
And
it is for this reason that Benjamin Franklin gets blamed for DST.
Clearly by reading the letter, reproduced in-full below, there is no
mention anywhere of changing the clocks. By looking at how much the
world has changed in the 234 years since Franklin wrote his letter in
1784, one would have to wonder what Franklin would think of our
modern 24/7, energy drink chugging, constant go go go world.
He
would probably tell us to stop and smell the roses.
You
often entertain us with accounts of new discoveries. Permit me to
communicate to the public, through your paper, one that has lately
been made by myself, and which I conceive may be of great utility.
I
was the other evening in a grand company, where the new lamp of
Messrs. Quinquet and Lange was introduced, and much admired for its
splendour; but a general inquiry was made, whether the oil it
consumed was not in proportion to the light it afforded, in which
case there would be no saving in the use of it. No one present could
satisfy us in that point, which all agreed ought to be known, it
being a very desirable thing to lessen, if possible, the expense of
lighting our apartments, when every other article of family expense
was so much augmented.
I
was pleased to see this general concern for economy, for I love
economy exceedingly.
I
went home, and to bed, three or four hours after midnight, with my
head full of the subject. An accidental sudden noise waked me about
six in the morning, when I was surprised to find my room filled with
light; and I imagined at first, that a number of those lamps had been
brought into it; but, rubbing my eyes, I perceived the light came in
at the windows. I got up and looked out to see what might be the
occasion of it, when I saw the sun just rising above the horizon,
from whence he poured his rays plentifully into my chamber, my
domestic having negligently omitted, the preceding evening, to close
the shutters.
I
looked at my watch, which goes very well, and found that it was but
six o'clock; and still thinking it something extraordinary that the
sun should rise so early, I looked into the almanac, where I found it
to be the hour given for his rising on that day. I looked forward,
too, and found he was to rise still earlier every day till towards
the end of June; and that at no time in the year he retarded his
rising so long as till eight o'clock. Your readers, who with me have
never seen any signs of sunshine before noon, and seldom regard the
astronomical part of the almanac, will be as much astonished as I
was, when they hear of his rising so early; and especially when I
assure them, that he gives light as soon as he rises. I am
convinced of this. I am certain of my fact. One cannot be more
certain of any fact. I saw it with my own eyes. And, having repeated
this observation the three following mornings, I found always
precisely the same result.
Yet
it so happens, that when I speak of this discovery to others, I can
easily perceive by their countenances, though they forbear expressing
it in words, that they do not quite believe me. One, indeed, who is a
learned natural philosopher, has assured me that I must certainly be
mistaken as to the circumstance of the light coming into my room; for
it being well known, as he says, that there could be no light abroad
at that hour, it follows that none could enter from without; and that
of consequence, my windows being accidentally left open, instead of
letting in the light, had only served to let out the darkness; and he
used many ingenious arguments to show me how I might, by that means,
have been deceived. I owned that he puzzled me a little, but he did
not satisfy me; and the subsequent observations I made, as above
mentioned, confirmed me in my first opinion.
This
event has given rise in my mind to several serious and important
reflections. I considered that, if I had not been awakened so early
in the morning, I should have slept six hours longer by the light of
the sun, and in exchange have lived six hours the following night by
candle-light; and, the latter being a much more expensive light than
the former, my love of economy induced me to muster up what little
arithmetic I was master of, and to make some calculations, which I
shall give you, after observing that utility is, in my opinion the
test of value in matters of invention, and that a discovery which can
be applied to no use, or is not good for something, is good for
nothing.
I
took for the basis of my calculation the supposition that there are
one hundred thousand families in Paris, and that these families
consume in the night half a pound of bougies, or candles, per hour. I
think this is a moderate allowance, taking one family with another;
for though I believe some consume less, I know that many consume a
great deal more. Then estimating seven hours per day as the medium
quantity between the time of the sun's rising and ours, he rising
during the six following months from six to eight hours before noon,
and there being seven hours of course per night in which we burn
candles, the account will stand thus;--
In
the six months between the 20th of March and the 20th of September,
there are
Nights
|
183 |
Hours
of each night in which we burn candles
|
7 |
Multiplication
gives for the total number of hours
|
1,281 |
These
1,281 hours multiplied by 100,000, the number of inhabitants,
give
|
128,100,000 |
One
hundred twenty-eight millions and one hundred thousand hours,
spent at Paris by candle-light, which, at half a pound of wax and
tallow per hour, gives the weight of
|
64,050,000 |
Sixty-four
millions and fifty thousand of pounds, which, estimating the
whole at-the medium price of thirty sols the pound, makes the sum
of ninety-six millions and seventy-five thousand livres tournois
|
96,075,000 |
An immense sum!
that the city of Paris might save every year, by the economy of using
sunshine instead of candles. If it should be said, that people are
apt to be obstinately attached to old customs, and that it will be
difficult to induce them to rise before noon, consequently my
discovery can be of little use; I answer, Nil desperandum. I
believe all who have common sense, as soon as they have learnt
from this paper that it is daylight when the sun rises, will contrive
to rise with him; and, to compel the rest, I would propose the
following regulations; First. Let a tax be laid of a louis per
window, on every window that is provided with shutters to keep out
the light of the sun.
Second.
Let the same salutary operation of police be made use of, to prevent
our burning candles, that inclined us last winter to be more
economical in burning wood; that is, let guards be placed in the
shops of the wax and tallow chandlers, and no family be permitted to
be supplied with more than one pound of candles per week.
Third.
Let guards also be posted to stop all the coaches, &c. that would
pass the streets after sunset, except those of physicians, surgeons,
and midwives.
Fourth.
Every morning, as soon as the sun rises, let all the bells in every
church be set ringing; and if that is not sufficient?, let cannon be
fired in every street, to wake the sluggards effectually, and make
them open their eyes to see their true interest.
All
the difficulty will be in the first two or three days; after which
the reformation will be as natural and easy as the present
irregularity; for, ce n'est que le
premier pas qui coƻte. Oblige a man
to rise at four in the morning, and it is more than probable he will
go willingly to bed at eight in the evening; and, having had eight
hours sleep, he will rise more willingly at four in the morning
following. But this sum of ninety-six millions and seventy-five
thousand livres is not the whole of what may be saved by my
economical project. You may observe, that I have calculated upon only
one half of the year, and much may be saved in the other, though the
days are shorter. Besides, the immense stock of wax and tallow left
unconsumed during the summer, will probably make candles much cheaper
for the ensuing winter, and continue them cheaper as long as the
proposed reformation shall be supported.
For
the great benefit of this discovery, thus freely communicated and
bestowed by me on the public, I demand neither place, pension,
exclusive privilege, nor any other reward whatever. I expect only to
have the honour of it. And yet I know there are little, envious
minds, who will, as usual, deny me this and say, that my invention
was known to the ancients, and perhaps they may bring passages out of
the old books in proof of it. I will not dispute with these people,
that the ancients knew not the sun would rise at certain hours; they
possibly had, as we have, almanacs that predicted it; but it does not
follow thence, that they knew he gave light as soon as he rose.
This is what I claim as my discovery. If the ancients knew it, it
might have been long since forgotten; for it certainly was unknown to
the moderns, at least to the Parisians, which to prove, I need use
but one plain simple argument. They are as well instructed judicious,
and prudent a people as exist anywhere in the world all professing,
like myself, to be lovers of economy; and,from the many heavy taxes
required from them by the necessitities of the state, have surely an
abundant reason to be economical. I say it is impossible that so
sensible a people, under such circumstances, should have lived so
long by the smoky, unwholesome, and enormously expensive light of
candles, if they had really known, that they might have had as much
pure light of the sun for nothing. I am, &c.
A
SUBSCRIBER
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A History of Cosmology: Prehistory to Present
Galileo's Fingers Go on Display.
Renaissance Astronomy: Part 1
Renaissance Astronomy: Part 2
Renaissance Astronomy: Part 3
The Equinox and a Magic Show from the Maya
Ancient America: the Moundbuilders
Ancient America: the Southwest
Ancient Egypt
Classical Greece
The Summer Solstice Sun and the Size of the Earth
The 1833 Leonids: History's Greatest Meteor Storm
The 10 Brightest Comets of All Time
Ben Franklin and the Truth About Daylight Savings Time
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