Ernst Chladni at the understanding of electron orbitals. Since at least 1738, a musical instrument called a "Glasspiel" or "verrillon", created by filling beer glasses with varying amounts of water, was popular in Europe. The beer glasses were struck by wooden mallets shaped like spoons to produce "church and other solemn music". Benjamin Franklin was sufficiently impressed by a verrillon performance on a visit to London in 1757 that he created his own instrument, the glass armonica, in 1762. Franklin's armonica inspired several other instruments, including two created by Chladni. In 1791, Chladni invented the musical instrument called the "euphon" (not to
18th-century French literature 18th-century French literature 18th-century French literature is French literature written between 1715, the year of the death of King Louis XIV of France, and 1798, the year of the coup d'État of Bonaparte which brought the Consulate to power, concluded the French Revolution, and began the modern era of French history. This century of enormous economic, social, intellectual and political transformation produced two important literary and philosophical movements: during what became known as the Age of Enlightenment, the "Philosophes" questioned all existing institutions, including the church and state, and applied rationalism and scientific analysis to society; and a very different