William Buchan (physician)
| William Buchan | |
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William Buchan
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| Born | 1729 Ancrum |
| Died | 1805 (aged 76) |
| Occupation | Scottish physician |
William Buchan (1729 – 25 February 1805) was a Scottish physician and author. He is best known for his work Domestic Medicine: or, a Treatise on the Prevention and Cure of Diseases by Regimen and Simple Medicines. One of the first of its kind, Domestic Medicine was a medical text intended for lay persons by providing detailed descriptions of the causes and prevention of diseases. Buchan’s goal was one of “laying medicine more open to mankind.” It was one of the most popular and long lived books in Europe. There were over 80,000 copies in 19 different edition sold in Buchan’s life time and was translated into almost every major European language.
William Buchan was born in Ancrum, Roxburgshire in 1729. In his early academic years, he attended a local grammar school, but he had already taken a keen interest in medicine. Even at an early age with no formal training, he acted as one of the novice village physicians. However, due to pressure from his family, upon entering Edinburgh University in 1749, he was enrolled in the school of divinity. He soon shifted from his theological studies to studying mathematics and botany and then ultimately medicine. He completed his studies in medicine in 1758 after approximately nine years at the university.
Upon leaving the university, he started a small practice in rural Yorkshire before being appointed as a physician at the Foundling Hospital in Ackworth, Yorkshire in 1759. While at the Foundling Hospital, he worked heavily with children and in 1761 he wrote his first major work, his medical dissertation, On the Preservation of Infant Life. In his dissertation, he argued that far too large a number of infants die in Great Britain every year. However, there was little response to his work.
Shortly after, Buchan married a lady of the Dundas Clan previously one of the most noble clans of Scotland. Unfortunately, later that same year, Parliament stopped funding the Foundling Hospital, so Buchan moved and took up a practice in Sheffield from 1761 till 1766 when he returned to Edinburgh. While in Edinburgh, he ran his own practice and gave lectuers in Newtonianism and natural philosophy.
In 1769, William Buchan published his famous work Domestic Medicine. The first edition sold for only six shillings and experienced great success. In total, Domestic Medicine sold over 80,000 copies in 19 edition in almost every major European language. In 1772, William Buchan became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The following year, the Chair of the Institute of Medicine, John Gregory, passed away and Buchan announced his candidacy. Buchan failed to be elected and a few years later he moved to London where he practiced till his death on February 25, 1805. He was buried in the cloisters of Westiminster Abbey.
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