Thomas Short (1690–1772) was an English

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

, epidemiologist, and medical historian. He is known for writing extensively on population theory and the history of disease outbreaks affecting England.

Life and career

A draft deed indicates Thomas Short was the son of a merchant named James Short. From an early point in Thomas's life he was interested in chemistry and mineral water, and as a young man was educated in medicine at

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. After his studies he either practiced medicine or was counseled in

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

from 1723 to 1728, and Short began officially working as a physician in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

around 1725 or 1728. He published books about what he learned as a doctor treating patients. One of Short's earliest publications, in 1728, was medical literature on the negative health effects of

obesity Obesity is a medical condition, sometimes considered a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it may negatively affect health. People are classified as obese when their body mass index (BMI)—a person's we ...

: In ''A Discourse concerning the causes and effects of Corpulency, etc'' he writes about how fat separates from the blood and why some individuals are more vulnerable to health problems than others. Short was at a prolific stage of writing medical literature by the 1740s. Retaining his interest in mineral waters from early in his life, he began the decade by publishing ''An Essay Towards a Natural, Experimental, and Medicinal History of the Principle Mineral Waters''. In 1746, he published ''Medicine Britannica: Or, a Treatise on such Physical Plants as are Generally to be Found in the Fields or Gardens in Great Britain.'' One of his more famous works was published at the end of the decade in 1749, ''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.'' His descriptions of sixteenth century influenza pandemics in Europe, their pathologies, and recorded treatments have been cited by medical historians. Short's works were also read by contemporaries such as

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

. In 1750, at age 60, Short had his ''Discourses on Tea, Sugar, Milk, Made-Wines, Spirits, Punch, Tobacco with Plain and Useful Rules for Gouty People'' published''.'' The same year he also published ''New Observations, Natural, Moral, Civil, Political, and Medical, on City, Town, and Country Bills of Mortality,'' his first publication where Short focused his demographic interests discussing how diseases affected and altered populations. This was the checkpoint in his literary career where he became known for his writings on population theory. In 1762, Short moved to

Rotherham Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...

, where he lived for 10 years before dying in 1772.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Short, Thomas 18th-century English medical doctors 1690 births 1771 deaths 18th-century English writers Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford Gout researchers People from South Yorkshire