Benjamin Franklin is usually depicted as a grandfatherly fellow, portly and genial, who would be at home by the fire of an 18th-century tavern, with a long-stemmed pipe in one hand and a tankard of porter in the other. In the familiar portrait of Franklin by his contemporary Edward Fisher, the great man seems fixed to his chair by a kind of weary contentment.
Articles with Plate tectonics
Benjamin Franklin at his desk • Mezzotint by engraver Edward Fisher, ca. 1763
The underwater topography of the world's oceans (Public Domain)
In 25 words or less
What is science?
The eggshell Earth • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Public Domain)
Consider the drift
Humans have an appetite for the fabulous. Once that appetite was satisfied by unicorns, hippogriffs, mermaids, or monsters. Today, more often than not, it is satisfied by UFOs, abominable snowmen, and other pseudo-scientific phenomena.