How is Benjamin Franklin a representative of the Enlightenment ?

Franklin believed that human life could be improved through science and education. He founded the American Philosophical Society which eventually grew into the University of Pennsylvania; the only college established in the eighteenth century that had no ties to a religious denomination. Franklin's inventions such as the wood stove and bifocals improved every day life. Franklin's Albany Plan was the first major step towards a national government. Benjamin Franklin always looked towards the future and tried to find ways to improve that future.