How the Enlightenment was brought to America

Former correspondent Jonathan Lyons (photo)​, has just published a new book that uses the life and times of Benjamin Franklin to explore the colonial origins of America’s engineering and technological prowess. 

The book, The Society for Useful Knowledge: How Benjamin Franklin and Friends Brought the Enlightenment to America (Bloomsbury Press), is his fourth.

“Franklin and his many collaborators ushered in a true knowledge revolution, one that preceded the political rebellion against the British, and which upended the established economy of knowledge,” he says. Its ideas could later be found in the Declaration of Independence and in the other founding documents of the republic. And it involved many of the same figures.

Lyons left Reuters in 2007 after 21 years as a correspondent, bureau chief and editor to complete a doctorate in sociology and devote himself to writing “and the odd teaching gig”. During his time with the Baron he covered - among other top stories - the collapse of the Soviet Union, the emergence of political Islam in Turkey, and the rise and fall of Iranian reformist Muhammad Khatami. He also held posts in New York, Washington and Jakarta. 

His earlier books include The House of Wisdom: How the Arabs Transformed Western Civilization (Bloomsbury Press), and Islam Through Western Eyes: From the Crusades to the War on Terrorism (Columbia University Press).

Lyons also writes a blog, Useful Dr Franklin, and runs a small editing consultancy, Narrative Arc Studio. He recently settled in Portland, Oregon, where he rides and races his bikes when not in the library or at the computer. ■