Benjamin Franklin

Burns bio views both-brained Ben

Many of us might feel mired in one side of our brain. We’re left-brained scientists and engineers, right-brained artists and authors.
But there are rare exceptions, the both-brained sort. They’re as exotic as Leonardo da Vinci … or as down-to-earth as Benjamin Franklin, the subject of Ken Burns’ latest PBS documentary (8 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, April 4-5, repeating at 10).
“He was able to connect art and science, able to connect the humanities and the technology,” biographer Walter Isaacson said of Franklin (shown here in an artist’s rendition). “He cared about everything you could possibly learn about, from art to anatomy, math to music.” Read more…