Franklin was turned on to electricity in 1743 and conducted many
shocking experiments described in 1747 in letters to Peter
Collinson, and published in 1751 in the _Philosophical Transactions._
Franklin's famous kite experiment was conducted in 1752.  In 1753
G. W. Richmann of the Russian Academy was killed by such an experiment.
 
This demonstration that lightning possesed a "fire" which acted like
static electicity led to a debate in how best to draw off that fire.
Blunt type lightning rods were proposed by Benjamin Wilson on the
reasoning that pointed rods would attract lightning, while blunt rods
would carry off the strike without attracting it.  Franklin actually
believed that pointed rods would draw the charge out of the clouds,
defusing storms.  This is, after all how one could defuse a charged
metal sphere in the labratory.
 
Wilson mounted rods under the roof.
 
Kenneth Gauck
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