Explore the Franklin Institute, dedicated to Benjamin Franklin and science
A discussion of the Philadelphia museum dedicated to Benjamin Franklin and science in the United States, from the documentary Wonderland of Science: The Franklin Institute.
Great Museums Television (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
-
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.On May 10, 1908, American activist Anna Jarvis held what is considered to be the first Mother's Day celebration.
-
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.How did a Christian holiday get scrambled up with colored eggs?
-
Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, MainzGenuine Gorgonzola cheese bears a G printed on its packaging.
-
Great Museums Television (A Britannica Publishing Partner)A discussion concerning one of the first U.S. art museums, from the documentary Art Gets a Start in America: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
-
Great Museums Television (A Britannica Publishing Partner)A discussion of Charles Willson Peale and his founding of the Philadelphia Museum, from the documentary Riches, Rivals, and Radicals: 100 Years of Museums in America.
-
© Civil War Trust (A Britannica Publishing Partner)Overview of Pennsylvania's role in the American Civil War.
-
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Explanation of the principle of the conservation of energy.
News •
50 years after iconic film, a gathering of ‘Rocky’ fans in Philadelphia breaks a world record
• Nov. 13, 2026, 6:01 PM ET (AP)
Cargo ship strikes bridge between New Jersey and Philadelphia, causing traffic backup
• Nov. 12, 2026, 9:05 PM ET (AP)
Cargo ship strikes bridge between New Jersey and Philadelphia, causing traffic backup
• Nov. 12, 2026, 9:05 PM ET (AP)
Zack Wheeler and Yordan Alvarez earn MLB Comeback Player of the Year awards
• Nov. 11, 2026, 11:36 PM ET (AP)
A woman running the NYC marathon for charity dies 2 miles from the finish
• Nov. 3, 2026, 4:10 PM ET (AP)
Transcript
[Music in]
NARRATOR: Founded to commemorate and continue the inventive spirit and scientific genius of Benjamin Franklin, the imposing Franklin Institute stands solid as a rock on 20th Street in Philadelphia. Yet inside its majestic marble stairwell hangs a 150-year-old invention that proves that the building and the Earth below are moving.
STEVEN SNYDER: This is the institute's Foucault pendulum. It's 85 feet long, and every morning, someone comes down, holds the bob back, and lets it go. At the same time, the Earth underneath our feet is slowly rotating, and the interaction between this back-and-forth motion of the pendulum and the spinning of the Earth causes the path of the pendulum to slowly change throughout the day. About every 20 minutes another one of these pins is knocked over because of this interaction between the motion of the pendulum and the spinning of the Earth.
NARRATOR: Science is a phenomenon, a process. You can't put it in a museum display case.
DERRICK PITTS: It's a part of our lives that we cannot escape. It's like the air that's here or the water that's here. Science is the discipline that describes how all of this interacts.
NARRATOR: On display at the Franklin Institute is a surprising collection of ordinary, everyday experiences, like stability, momentum, speed.
DENNIS WINT: The Franklin Institute's mission is to focus on current and emerging and new areas of science and technology.
NARRATOR: Yet its rich historical collection also charts the progress of science in America. Here is Benjamin Franklin's lightning rod.
JOHN ALVITI: And we refer to it as the institute's own personal holy grail because of what the institute is all about and—and because it belongs to—to Franklin.
NARRATOR: The Wright brothers donated the components of their great experiment, including this flimsy four-inch metal strip, a wing shape, from which they coaxed the secrets of flight.
PHILIP HAMMER: I look at this and, you know, I'm in awe, because to me it's like the Rosetta Stone of the modern age.
ROSALYN McPHERSON: So when a person walks in this institution, I want them to have the awe of the historical, because we are unique in that we still have a lot of artifacts but then also that contemporary technology, whether it's low tech or high tech, so that you can do things and learn by doing.
NARRATOR: Philadelphia's Franklin Institute aims to awaken the scientist in each and every one of us.
STEVEN SNYDER: I'd love to get them hooked on that experience of seeing the world in this brand-new and wonderful way. Science lets us see the magic that's all around us.
[Music out]
NARRATOR: Founded to commemorate and continue the inventive spirit and scientific genius of Benjamin Franklin, the imposing Franklin Institute stands solid as a rock on 20th Street in Philadelphia. Yet inside its majestic marble stairwell hangs a 150-year-old invention that proves that the building and the Earth below are moving.
STEVEN SNYDER: This is the institute's Foucault pendulum. It's 85 feet long, and every morning, someone comes down, holds the bob back, and lets it go. At the same time, the Earth underneath our feet is slowly rotating, and the interaction between this back-and-forth motion of the pendulum and the spinning of the Earth causes the path of the pendulum to slowly change throughout the day. About every 20 minutes another one of these pins is knocked over because of this interaction between the motion of the pendulum and the spinning of the Earth.
NARRATOR: Science is a phenomenon, a process. You can't put it in a museum display case.
DERRICK PITTS: It's a part of our lives that we cannot escape. It's like the air that's here or the water that's here. Science is the discipline that describes how all of this interacts.
NARRATOR: On display at the Franklin Institute is a surprising collection of ordinary, everyday experiences, like stability, momentum, speed.
DENNIS WINT: The Franklin Institute's mission is to focus on current and emerging and new areas of science and technology.
NARRATOR: Yet its rich historical collection also charts the progress of science in America. Here is Benjamin Franklin's lightning rod.
JOHN ALVITI: And we refer to it as the institute's own personal holy grail because of what the institute is all about and—and because it belongs to—to Franklin.
NARRATOR: The Wright brothers donated the components of their great experiment, including this flimsy four-inch metal strip, a wing shape, from which they coaxed the secrets of flight.
PHILIP HAMMER: I look at this and, you know, I'm in awe, because to me it's like the Rosetta Stone of the modern age.
ROSALYN McPHERSON: So when a person walks in this institution, I want them to have the awe of the historical, because we are unique in that we still have a lot of artifacts but then also that contemporary technology, whether it's low tech or high tech, so that you can do things and learn by doing.
NARRATOR: Philadelphia's Franklin Institute aims to awaken the scientist in each and every one of us.
STEVEN SNYDER: I'd love to get them hooked on that experience of seeing the world in this brand-new and wonderful way. Science lets us see the magic that's all around us.
[Music out]
Last Modification: