Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography (excerpts) 

 The term engineer was defined differently in Franklin’s day.  Using our modern day definition, Is it reasonable to think of Franklin as an engineer?   Is there another term that would fit him better?  Do you think he was a good engineer (or whatever)?  Why or why not?  Do you see any connections with the themes Johnson discusses?  What role did printing and information technology play in Franklin’s life? (Look carefully throughout his life.) Do you think Franklin’s life would have been different if he was a chandler? How do you think Franklin was different from other people of his day?  We have had two presidents who were engineers (Hoover and Carter) and their presidencies are generally not considered successful. From the reading do you think Franklin was an effective politician?  Why or why not? How do you think Franklin would transfer to the world of today? Can a budding engineer today learn lessons from Franklin’s life?   Does our program have an appropriate namesake?  How awesome was Benjamin Franklin?  Totally?  Monstrously?  Ridiculously?