Summary of Michael Meyer's Benjamin Franklin's Last Bet

Book excerpt: Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 Franklin’s death was reported in the Pennsylvania Gazette on April 21, 1790. The notice omitted his biography, and instead printed his physician’s account of Franklin’s last days. #2 Franklin was an early fitness guru, and he dabbled in vegetarianism. He believed that exercise was most effective through intensity rather than duration. He also believed that the common cold was spread by contagion, and that ventilation and air circulation were the solution. #3 Ten months after Franklin’s death, his last will and testament was read aloud in court. It was revealed that he had left money to the Pennsylvania legislature to be employed for making the river Schuylkill navigable. This barely concealed an undercurrent of rectitude. #4 Franklin was a printer who had profited from public service. He refused to be paid when he was appointed as Pennsylvania governor for consecutive one-year terms in 1785. He wanted to show people that it was more advantageous to give than to receive.