b'One Day UniversityThe Restless Genius of Benjamin Franklin(archived lecture) By Professor Richard Bell, University of MarylandMarch 23, 2 p.m. (Bradford Movie Theater)Franklins genius is a puzzle. From a family of puritan candle-makers, and with only two years of proper schooling, here is a young man whoserelentless drive to build a better world propels him to the front ranks ofscience, engineering and invention. A man who later received honorarydegrees from Harvard, Yale, Oxford and St. Andrews. How? Why?This class reveals that like his hero Isaac Newton, Franklins genius lay intinkering, in improving, and in never being satisfied with the world as he knew it. As it turns out, his incessant experimentation encompassed not only natural science and engineering, but also innovations in medical devicedesign, music and cookery. Franklin took a schoolboys pleasure in everything he made, even when things went wrong (which they often did). Richard Bell is a Professor of History at the University of Maryland where he has garnered more than a dozen teaching awards. He has also held major researchfellowships at Yale, Cambridge and the Library of Congress.40'