John Arbuthnot facts for kids

Quick facts for kids John Arbuthnot
Portrait of John Arbuthnot by Godfrey Kneller
Born	1667 (baptised on 29 April) Kincardineshire, Scotland
Died	27 February 1735 (aged 67)
Nationality	Scottish
Education	Marischal College, University of Aberdeen
Occupation	physician, satirist, polymath

John Arbuthnot (born 29 April 1667 – died 27 February 1735) was a smart Scottish man who lived in London. He was a physician (doctor), a satirist (someone who uses humor to criticize things), and a polymath (someone who knows a lot about many different subjects).

People remember him for his work in mathematics. He was also part of a famous group called the Scriblerus Club. This club inspired famous books like Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift. John Arbuthnot also created the character of John Bull, who became a symbol for England.

John Arbuthnot's Early Life

John Arbuthnot didn't like people writing about his life after he died. He even let his children play with and burn his writings! Because of this, it's a bit hard to know everything about him. His friends said he was very humble and friendly. He often didn't take credit for his own work.

John was born in Arbuthnott, Kincardineshire, Scotland. His father was a priest. John might have finished his arts degree in 1685. His brothers fought for King James VII in 1689, but John stayed with his father.

When William and Mary became king and queen, ministers had to promise loyalty to them. John's father refused. So, he lost his church job. John was there to help when his father died in 1691.

Moving to London and Becoming a Doctor

In 1691, John Arbuthnot moved to London. He taught mathematics to support himself. In 1692, he published Of the Laws of Chance. This was the first book in English about probability, which is the study of how likely something is to happen. The book was a success.

He later became a tutor for Edward Jeffreys, whose father was a Member of Parliament. John met many smart people at University College, Oxford, including Isaac Newton.

John wanted to become a doctor. He enrolled at the University of St Andrews on September 11, 1696. On the very same day, he defended seven medical ideas and earned his doctorate degree!

In 1697, he wrote his first satire. He made fun of a doctor named John Woodward, who was very proud and thought his ideas were always right. In 1701, Arbuthnot wrote another math book. He said that math helps free the mind from superstition.

Royal Doctor and Important Discoveries

In 1702, Prince George of Denmark, who was married to Queen Anne, became sick. John Arbuthnot treated the prince and helped him get better. Because of this, he was invited to work at the royal court. Around this time, he also got married and had a son named George.

In 1704, he became a member of the Royal Society, a group for important scientists. In 1705, Queen Anne made him her special doctor. He also helped publish a book of astronomical observations.

John Arbuthnot was a friendly person. Jonathan Swift said his only flaw was a slight waddle when he walked. His good nature and royal connections made him important in the Royal Society.

In 1710, John Arbuthnot wrote an important paper about birth records in London. He looked at 82 years of data and found that more boys were born than girls every single year. He believed this wasn't just by chance. He thought it showed Divine Providence, meaning it was part of God's plan. This paper was a big step in the history of statistics.

The Scriblerus Club and Satire

In 1710, Jonathan Swift moved to London. He and John Arbuthnot became friends. They were both Tory supporters, a political group. Arbuthnot often gave Swift ideas for his writings. From 1711 to 1713, Arbuthnot and Swift were part of "The Brothers' Club." Arbuthnot often shared his ideas without seeking credit.

In 1712, Arbuthnot and Swift wanted to help the Tory government end the War of the Spanish Succession. Arbuthnot wrote a series of five pamphlets (small books) about a character called John Bull. The first one, Law Is a Bottomless Pit, used a simple allegory (a story with a hidden meaning) to explain the war.

In the story, John Bull (England) is suing Louis Baboon (King Louis XIV of France) over land. Bull's lawyer, Humphrey Hocus (the Duke of Marlborough), is the one who really benefits from the lawsuit. Bull also has a sister named Peg (Scotland). Arbuthnot used humor to show that the war was not worth fighting.

In 1713, Arbuthnot continued his political satire with Proposals for printing a very curious discourse... a treatise of the art of political lying. This work humorously suggested teaching people how to lie well. This idea was similar to other works by his friends Alexander Pope and John Gay.

Also in 1713, Arbuthnot became a doctor at Chelsea Hospital, which gave him a house. This house became the meeting place for the famous Scriblerus Club. Members included important writers like Pope, Gay, Swift, and Thomas Parnell. Everyone in the club agreed that Arbuthnot had the most ideas. He was especially good at making fun of science. He came up with the idea for the Memoirs of Martinus Scriblerus, about a very serious but silly scholar.

The Club only met for about a year. Queen Anne died in July 1714. When George I became king, Arbuthnot lost his royal jobs and houses. But he still had a busy medical practice.

Later Life and Medical Work

In 1717, Arbuthnot helped Pope and Gay with their play, Three Hours after Marriage. He was also a friend of the famous composer George Frederic Handel.

In 1719, he joined a debate about how to treat smallpox, a serious disease. He again criticized Dr. Woodward for his stubborn and unscientific ideas. In 1723, Arbuthnot became a censor for the Royal College of Physicians. He worked to check and improve the safety of medicines sold by apothecaries (pharmacists). He even wrote a funny pamphlet suggesting that funeral directors might sue the doctors if drug safety got better!

In 1726 and 1727, Jonathan Swift and Alexander Pope visited Arbuthnot. Swift showed Arbuthnot his book Gulliver's Travels before it was published. Many of the funny parts in Book III, which made fun of scientific projects, probably came from Arbuthnot's ideas.

In 1730, Arbuthnot's wife died. The next year, he wrote a popular medical book called An essay concerning the nature of aliments, and the choice of them. This book gave advice on diet. It was so popular that it was printed many times and translated into French and German. In 1733, he wrote another popular book, An Essay Concerning the Effects of Air on Human Bodies. He believed that the air in different places affected people's health and personalities. He told people to air out sickrooms and get fresh air in cities. Even though his ideas about air weren't completely right, his advice to get fresh air was helpful.

His son Charles died in 1731. In 1734, Arbuthnot's own health got worse. He had kidney stones and asthma. He died on February 27, 1735, in London. He is buried at St James's Church, Piccadilly.

Why John Arbuthnot Was Important

John Arbuthnot was a key member of the Scriblerus Club. The other writers in the group thought he was the funniest. He didn't leave as many writings as the others because he didn't want credit. His satires were easy to read and showed a lot of understanding.

His writing style was similar to Swift's. Both used clear sentences and simple words. Sometimes, people even thought their works were written by the other person. Arbuthnot's writings were usually not as harsh as Swift's.

Samuel Johnson, a famous writer, thought very highly of Arbuthnot. He said, "I think Dr. Arbuthnott the first man among them. He was the most universal genius, being an excellent physician, a man of deep learning, and a man of much humour." John Arbuthnot was at the center of many great satires of his time. He was a source of ideas for many famous literary works, but he always made sure he didn't get the credit.

His Writings

• John Arbuthnot (1710). "An argument for Divine Providence, taken from the constant regularity observed in the births of both sexes". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London 27 (325–336): 186–190. doi:10.1098/rstl.1710.0011. http://www.york.ac.uk/depts/maths/histstat/arbuthnot.pdf.
• John Arbuthnot (1712, published in 1727). The History of John Bull.
• John Arbuthnot (1722). Mr. Maitland’s account of inoculating the small-pox, London, printed for the author, by J. Downing. (Transcription in Eighteenth Century Collections Online).
• John Arbuthnot (1733). An essay concerning the effects of air on human bodies, London, printed for J. Tonson in the Strand. (Transcription in Eighteenth Century Collections Online).
• John Arbuthnot (1727). Tables of Ancient Coins, Weights and Measures. Explain'd and exemplify'd in several dissertations., London : printed for J. Tonson, 1727.

Images for kids

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  Arbuthnot, from a painting by Godfrey Knoeller

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  John Bull in his World War I iteration. Arbuthnot's character became an enduring symbol for the United Kingdom.

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  Illustration from Tentamen circa indolem alimentoru published in Acta Eruditorum, 1734

See also

In Spanish: John Arbuthnot para niños