Who was well respected both in America and Europe as a statesman and a scientist?

Answer 1

Benjamin Franklin.

Benjamin Franklin was well-regarded both as a statesman and a scientist in Europe and America. Born in 1706, Franklin established himself as a printer in Philadelphia in the 1720s, and proceeded to publish the "Pennsylvania Gazette" and "Poor Richard's" almanac. After he retired from printing in 1743, he commenced a series of experiments in electricity where he proved that lightning and electricity were one and the same. He used that discovery to invent the lightning rod. Franklin went on to become a public figure, serving as an Assemblyman in the Pennsylvania legislature, the Postmaster General of Colonial America, and a colonial representative to Britain. During the Revolutionary War, Franklin served as America's ambassador to France, where his scientific reputation earned him great respect in the French court. After he returned to America, Franklin served in the Constitutional Convention in 1786. He died in 1790.