Which scientist invented the lightning rod after studying electricity in the 18th century?

Benjamin Franklin invented the lightning rod after studying electricity in the 18th century.

Franklin proposed that a pointed metal conductor mounted on a building could provide a preferred path for lightning-related electrical discharge into the ground. His 1752 kite experiment is associated with demonstrating that lightning is electrical, although the experiment’s exact details are debated and it was extremely dangerous to imitate.

A lightning rod does not attract every lightning strike or make a building immune to damage. Instead, a properly installed system uses a conductor and grounding network to guide current safely away from vulnerable structural materials. The surrounding protection system is often called lightning protection.

Franklin’s work also introduced the conventional labels positive and negative charge. His electrical research made him one of the best-known early investigators of electrostatics, even though many later details of lightning physics were developed by other scientists.