Benjamin Franklin was one of the cleverest men of his generation. It is said that in the spring of 1772 Franklin attended a party thrown by Lord Shelburne at one of Shelburne’s estates. The other guests watched as Franklin approached a turbulent stream with his gold-headed bamboo cane in hand. He boasted to the other guests that he could calm the water. Franklin walked upstream about 100 yards. Waving his cane over the stream three times in the best abracadabra fashion, he stepped back, his feat accomplished. Soon he was basking in admiration as the other guests marveled at how he had miraculously made the rough surface of the water as smooth as glass. Franklin finally explained that he had simply spread oil on the troubled waters. He had released on the rough surface of the water a few dr…