Scientists — especially those in fields plagued by results that can't be reproduced — could learn a thing or two from Benjamin Franklin. In the late 18th century, humanity had yet to invent most of the statistical tools now considered essential for social science, yet Franklin conducted a top-rate psychology experiment yielding conclusions that stand to this day.
To do it, he had to invent some of the core principles of experimental science. Franklin's contribution to social science often gets drowned out by his equally great strides in electricity and other forms of innovation. But now, with critics charging that most published social science can't be replicated, Franklin's foray into psychology deserves some attention.
The year was 1782. The place: Paris. King Louis XIV asked Franklin to investigate an allegedly science-based form of medicine known as Mesmerism. Named for its inventor — Viennese physician Franz Mesmer — treatments involved moving an alleged magnetic fluid through the body by means of waving hands or rods over a patient, or having them touch a "magnetized" object.