History and Mystery of Lightning
Science investigates
the known, the unknown,
and unknowable. Today,
lightning research is
divided into various
disciplines, some of
which are:
- Atmospheric Physics
and Electrostatics.
- Electrical Engineering.
- Climatology, including
thunderstorm morphology & dynamics.
- Meteorology and other
sub-sectors.
These detailed technical examinations may never provide all
the answers about lightning, but modern investigation techniques
are busy providing new information.
There was another earlier time when lightning was the magic
fire from the sky which man captured and used to keep warm
at night . It kept the savage animals away. As primitive man
sought answers about the natural world, lightning became a
part of his superstitions, his myths and his early religions.
Early Greeks believed that lightning was a weapon of Zeus.
Thunderbolts were invented by Minerva the goddess of wisdom.
Since lightning was a manifestation of the gods, any spot
struck by lightning was regarded as sacred. Greek and Roman
temples often were erected at these sites, where the gods
were worshipped in an attempt to appease them. The Moslems
also attributed lightning and thunder to their god. The Koran
says "He it is who showeth you lightning and launches the
thunderbolts."
Scandinavian mythology alludes to Thor, the thunderer, who
was the foe of all demons. Thor tossed lightning bolts at
his enemies. Thor also gave us Thurs-day.
In the pantheistic Hindu religion, Indra was the god of heaven,
lightning, rain, storms and thunder. The Maruts used the thunderbolts
as weapons. Umpundulo is the lightning bird-god of the Bantu
tribesmen in Africa. Even today their medicine men go out
in storms and bid the lightning to strike far away.
The Navajo Indians hold that lightning has great power in
their healing rituals. Sand paintings show the lightning bolt
as a wink in the Thunderbird's eye. Lightning is associated
with wind, rain and crop growth.
As late as the early 1800s in Russia, when rain was wanted,
three men climbed a tree. One would knock two firebrands together;
the sparks imitating lightning. Another one would pour water
over twigs, imitating rain. A third would bang on a kettle
to attract the thunder. And throughout early Europe, church
bell ringers would make as much noise as possible, hoping
to scare away the storms from these holy dwellings which were
struck frequently by lightning.
During the Napoleonic wars, more than 220 British tall ships
were damaged--not by the French, but by lightning. The solution,
of course, was to install lightning rods. But since that device
had been invented by a "rebel colonist" named Benjamin
Franklin,
His Majesty's Navy steadfastly refused. It took until the
1830's before the admiralty finally saw the light and forgot
about old colonial rebellions.
Even Santa Klaus gets into the act with his reindeer Donner
(thunder) and Blitzen (lightning).
Early superstitions were observed as Cause and Effect, which
now has been fancified as science. Socrates said, "that's
not Zeus up there, it's a vortex of air." Genghis Kahn forbade
his subjects from washing garments or bathing in running water
during a storm. Thales, the Greek philosopher, in 600 BC,
rubbed a piece of amber with a dry cloth and noted that it
would then attract feathers and straw. William Gilbert, court
healer to Queen Elizabeth, in the late 1500s, also used amber
to duplicate the earlier experiments. He named this via electrica,
after electra which is Greek for amber. He didn't know
it, but he was demonstrating static electricity.
Lightning is a big spark...static electricity on a giant
scale. Machines for creating static electricity were invented...the
Leyden jar was like a thermos bottle which stored volts. Friction
machines could charge the jars and electricity could be carried
around and demonstrated. "Electric magic" was in great demand
at the royal courts of Europe as entertainment. The parlor
tricks amused and fascinated people.
Science was in its infancy during these times. Sir Isaac
Newton had proposed that basic mathematical laws were the
foundation for understanding the forces of nature. With "electric
magic" there was insufficient experimental investigation to
explain its behavior. In 1746, Dr. Spence from Scotland came
to Philadelphia. He there demonstrated some "electric magic"
to an audience which included the local postmaster.
That man was Benjamin Franklin. Franklin was curiosity personified.
At age eight he left the Boston Grammar School, ending his
formal studies. He was endowed with a strong sense of investigation
and self-discipline. He learned and studied things all his
life. He invented the bifocal glasses and the Franklin stove.
An expert swimmer, a vegetarian, multi-lingual, and a word-smith
publisher, his Poor Richard's Almanac was selling 10,000 copies
a year in the colonies. Even today some of those aphorisms
about thrift and hard work are valuable to recall:
Honesty is the best policy. He who drinketh fast, payeth
slow. Sloth maketh all things difficult, but Industry all
easy.
At age 42, Franklin sold his Philadelphia printing business
for half the profits for 20 years. He retired. He involved
himself in social experiments like the American Revolutionary
War and the Declaration of Independence. He dabbled with the
electric Leyden Jar and pondered questions..."how many small
jars would kill a chicken? How many large jars for a turkey?
Why did an electrocuted turkey taste better than a conventionally-killed
bird? What is lightning? Why is it burning down churches?
Can it be captured to a Leyden jar? Can it be captured to
earth safely?..." Then came the kites and keys experiments
in 1752-53 and Franklin's deduction that lightning was, afterall,
electricity.
This was followed by his lightning rod invention and its
duplication in France and usefulness throughout Europe. Franklin
was a celebrated figure in his time. Franklin has been called
America's patron saint of common sense. Perhaps, had he not
been close to the French Royal Court, and been able to influence
France to finance the American Revolutionary War, all of us
here in the USA today might be speaking with English accents!
Recently some scientists have concluded that lightning may
have played a part in the evolution of living organisms. Nobel
prize winning chemist Harold Urey proposed that the earth's
early atmosphere consisted of ammonia, hydrogen, methane,
and water vapor. One of his students, Stanley Miller, used
an electric spark to duplicate lightning and introduced it
into the chemical brew. He was careful to excluded any living
organisms from the experiment. At the end of a week, he examined
the mixture and found it contained newly-formed amino acids,
the very building blocks of protein. Did lightning play a
role in creating life itself? Science now is pushing the envelope
of lightning's secrets. More has been learned about this transient
phenomenon in the past 3-4 years than in the preceding two
hundred forty four years since Franklin's "kites and keys"
experiments. Stay tuned...
Most of the above was adapted from Viemeister, P.: 1961,
The Lightning Book, MIT Press, Cambridge MA. (Worth buying
your own copy.) See also Martin Uman's several books on lightJune 18, 2008tive.
This factsheet courtesy the National Lightning
Safety Institute, Louisville, CO. Tel. 303-666-8817.
WWWeb = http://www.lightningsafety.com
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