Thomas Short (physician) facts for kids

Thomas Short (1690–1772) was an English doctor, a scientist who studied how diseases spread (an epidemiologist), and a historian of medicine. He is famous for writing many books about how populations grow and change, and about the history of disease outbreaks in England.

Early Life and Education

Thomas Short was the son of a merchant named James Short. From a young age, Thomas was very interested in chemistry and the healing properties of mineral water. He went on to study medicine at Trinity College, Oxford in Oxford. This was a very important step in his journey to becoming a doctor.

A Doctor's Career and Writings

After finishing his studies, Thomas Short worked as a doctor or gave medical advice in Coventry from 1723 to 1728. He officially started working as a physician in Sheffield around 1725 or 1728. As a doctor, he treated many patients and used what he learned to write books.

Early Medical Books

One of Short's first books was published in 1728. It was called A Discourse concerning the causes and effects of Corpulency, etc. In this book, he wrote about the health problems linked to being overweight. He explained how fat separates from the blood and why some people are more likely to have these health issues than others.

Writing About Nature and Health

By the 1740s, Short was writing a lot of medical books. He still loved mineral waters, just like when he was young. He started this decade by publishing An Essay Towards a Natural, Experimental, and Medicinal History of the Principle Mineral Waters. This book explored the natural and healing uses of different mineral waters.

In 1746, he published another important book called Medicine Britannica: Or, a Treatise on such Physical Plants as are Generally to be Found in the Fields or Gardens in Great Britain. This book was all about the medicinal plants that could be found in British fields and gardens.

Studying Weather and Diseases

One of his most well-known works came out in 1749. It was titled A General Chronological History of the Air, Weather, Seasons, Meteors, &c., in Sundry Places and Different Times: More Particularly for the Space of 250 Years: Together with Some of Their Most Remarkable Effects on Animal (especially Human) Bodies and Vegetables. This long title shows how much he studied the weather and how it affected people and plants over 250 years!

In this book, he described influenza outbreaks (like the flu) that happened in Europe in the 1500s. He wrote about how these diseases affected people and what treatments were used back then. Other medical historians still use his descriptions today. Famous people, like Benjamin Franklin, also read Short's books.

Focus on Population and Health

In 1750, when he was 60 years old, Short published Discourses on Tea, Sugar, Milk, Made-Wines, Spirits, Punch, Tobacco with Plain and Useful Rules for Gouty People. This book gave advice on diet and lifestyle, especially for people with gout.

In the same year, he published New Observations, Natural, Moral, Civil, Political, and Medical, on City, Town, and Country Bills of Mortality. This was his first book where he focused on how diseases affected and changed populations. From this point on, he became known for his writings on population theory, which looks at how populations grow, shrink, and are affected by different factors.

Later Life

In 1762, Thomas Short moved to Rotherham. He lived there for 10 years before he passed away in 1772.