Born and raised in the city were Benjamin Franklin (1706-90), inventor of the lightning conductor; Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803- 82), author of Self-Reliance – one of the cornerstones of the Trancendentalism philosophy, and poet Sylvia Plath (1932-63), authoress of The Bell Jar. However, a host of others like Isaac Asimov (contemporary science fiction writer), Nathaniel Hawthorne (author of The Scarlet Letter), Henry James, writer of, among others, The Ivory Tower, and Mark Twain, wit, and author of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer – were drawn to the city.