Dendrology and Lightning Protection

The protection of trees against lightning—especially historically significant ones, high-value trees, and tall trees within 10 ft of a structure—began around the beginning of the 20th century. Arborists derived their methods and standards of protection from the electrical engineer’s solutions used to protect tall structures. The fundamentals for this protection originated more than 300 years ago in Philadelphia, as described in Benjamin Franklin’s pamphlet “Experiments and Observations on Electricity, Made at Philadelphia in America” [1]. Franklin founded the American Philosophical Society (the oldest learned society) in 1743 with contemporary scholars including his close friend and consult in all things related to trees and shrubs, John Bartram, the famous botanist. Bartram collected and studied trees and shrubs from all of the original 13 states and created the first botanical garden in Philadelphia. In 1795, he discovered the Franklinia alatamaha tree, which he named in honor of his close family friend Benjamin Franklin [2].