Benjamin Franklin

The Practical Philosopher

Benjamin Franklin & The Practical Philosopher strips away hagiography to reveal the working mind behind the myth: a printer who treated the world like a laboratory, an inventor who turned thrift into discovery, a diplomat who turned manners into leverage, and a public thinker who made everyday experiments matter to millions. Sharp, humane, and unromantic, this book traces how Franklin's habits—curiosity hooked to craft, wit harnessed to purpose, and thrift married to civic ambition—became a practical philosophy anyone can learn and use.

Clear-eyed analysis, brisk storytelling, and moral insight converge to show Franklin not as a relic but as a manual for action—how to test an idea, market an invention, broker consent, and live with consequences. For readers of intellectual history, invention, and the Founding era, this is a concise, electrifying portrait of a life that kept asking questions until the world changed in answer. Read it to think better, act smarter, and admire a man who could fly a kite in a storm and then charm a king.