Right of Reply: David Bodanis

A science writer replies to our choice of Benjamin Franklin as the Briton of the Millennium

David Bodanis
Sunday 03 January 1999 19:02 EST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN'S experiments with kites and electricity are impressive, and we wouldn't be able to listen to old CDs of ABBA without them, but I wouldn't vote him the Briton of the Millennium on that count. If he hadn't done those experiments someone else would have. As a scientist, he was replaceable.

Shakespeare would seem a better bet, as Radio Four's Today listeners suggested. It's true that language evolves, and already his words are fading from clarity, becoming ever more blurred to all but the most trained. But many of the insights underlying that language can survive the losses of translation into whatever language is likely to be dominant 1,000 years from now; be it Malay or Xhosa or Windows. The translator will become a rescuing spaceship, plucking King Lear and Othello away from the world of decaying English.

Come to think of that, I would give Franklin a good vote, but not for his electricity research. Instead, think of the way his political skills resemble the spaceship rescuing Shakespeare.

A small fragment of British cultural DNA had been pinched off, and carried to the new locale of North America. The resultant nation was different from its British parent, that is true. But because Benjamin Franklin ensured a moderate birth - being a good Pennsylvanian, he was preaching the Third Way two centuries ago - the new country kept much of that British source within it.

So who gets my vote for the most important Briton of the years to come? She'll be the one who helps a significant fragment of Britain leapfrog across the vicissitudes of the future, and survive, at least partially intact, when the start of the Fourth millennium is upon us.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in