Who is credited with first using the terms positive and negative to describe the two opposite kinds of electricity?

The correct answer is credited to Benjamin Franklin, who significantly contributed to our understanding of electricity in the 18th century. He was the first to propose the idea of two types of electrical charge, which he labeled as "positive" and "negative." Franklin's terms were based on his experiments with static electricity, where he demonstrated that objects could have an excess or a deficiency of electrical fluid.

His use of these terms laid the foundation for the electrical conventions we still use today and helped promote a clearer understanding of electrical phenomena. This contribution established important principles that guided further research and development in the field of electricity.

Other figures mentioned in the options made their own critical advancements in electrical science. For instance, Thomas Edison is known for his inventions in electrical lighting and power distribution, while Michael Faraday contributed significantly to electromagnetic induction and electrochemistry. Albert Einstein, on the other hand, made monumental contributions to theoretical physics, particularly in the development of the theory of relativity, but he did not lay the groundwork for the terminology used in electricity like Franklin did.