John Graunt
John Graunt | |
---|---|
Born | London | 24 April 1620
Died | 18 April 1674 London | (aged 53)
Nationality | English |
John Graunt (24 April 1620 – 18 April 1674) has been regarded as the founder of
Biography
Born in London, John Graunt was the eldest of the seven or eight children of Henry and Mary Graunt. Graunt's father was a draper who had moved to London from Hampshire. In February 1641, Graunt married Mary Scott, with whom he had one son (Henry) and three daughters. He became a freeman of the
Graunt worked in his father's shop until his father died in 1662, and Graunt became influential in the City. He was able to secure the post of professor of music for his friend William Petty in 1650. He served in various ward offices in Cornhill ward, becoming a common councilman about 1669–71, warden of the Drapers' Company in 1671 and a major in the trained band.[3]
Graunt, along with Sir William Petty, developed early human statistical and
The erudition of Graunt's book, Natural and Political Observations Made Upon the Bills of Mortality, led Graunt to the Royal Society. On 5 February 1661, Graunt presented fifty copies of his book to the Royal Society of London, to which he was subsequently elected a fellow in 1662 with the endorsement of King Charles II.[5] King Charles II's recommendation was notable due to Graunt's status as a tradesman, as the King suggested to the Royal Society that it should accept "any more such Tradesman." Graunt was chosen as a member of the council of the Royal Society in November 1664 and represented the Society at various meetings.
Graunt's house was destroyed in the
Natural and Political Observations Made Upon the Bills of Mortality
Graunt's book Natural and Political Observations Made upon the Bills of Mortality (published 1662
Bills of Mortality
John Graunt's analysis in Natural and Political Observations Made Upon the Bills of Mortality consisted of a compilation and an analysis of data from the
- "When anyone dies, then either by tolling, or by ringing of a Bell, or by bespeaking of a Grave of the Sexton, the same is known to the Searchers, corresponding with the said Sexton. The Searchers hereupon...examine by what Disease, or Casualty the corps died. Hereupon they make their Report to the Parish-Clerk, and he, every Tuesday night, carries in an Accompt of all the Burials, and Christnings, hapning that Week, to the Clerk of the Hall. On Wednesday the general Accompt is made up, and Printed, and on Thursdays published and dispersed to the several Families, who will pay for four shillings per Annum for them.”[10]
Graunt's description of the method of data collection for the Bills of Mortality also serves as an example of Graunt's use of scrutiny in appraising the data he was analyzing. Graunt critiqued the collectors ("Searchers") who determined cause of death of the corpses; this critique manifested in Graunt's investigations into the effects on mortality of certain diseases, as Graunt suggested many causes of death were misrepresented.
Epidemiology
Graunt's work reached rudimentary conclusions about the mortality and morbidity of certain diseases. Graunt was highly skeptical of the number of deaths recorded in the Bills of Mortality as due to the plague. Graunt speculated about the reasons for these misclassifications, one of which includes the reliability of those reporting causes of death in the Bills of Mortality.
Another example of Graunt's work in epidemiology is his investigation of the sudden surge in deaths in 1634 due to Rickets. Graunt looked at two other causes of death--"Liver-grown" and "Spleen"--in addition to "Rickets," combining the three and comparing the frequency of deaths due to each cause between years. Graunt investigated if the sudden increase in deaths due to rickets in the Bills of Mortality was actually the result of misclassifying corpses who were said to have died from "Liver-grown" and "Spleen." Graunt concluded that "Rickets" as a cause of death was at a maximum for the first time.[8]
Editions of the book
Graunt's work ran to five editions. The first edition lists John Graunt as a citizen. The first edition was printed and presented by Graunt to the
Impact
John Graunt's application of theory to data was one of the first instances of descriptive statistics. Some of Graunt's tables are the only resource for population data for certain periods of time, due to lost records in the Great Fire of London. After the publication of Graunt's work, France began to collect more descriptive and consistent censuses, though it is unknown if there was a direct connection between these two events. Graunt's work is still used today to study population trends and mortality, for example, studies on suicide.[8] Tribute to Graunt's pioneering work was paid by Sir Liam Donaldson in 2012 on the tenth anniversary of the Public Health Observatories.[11]
Graunt is the narrator of Anthony Clarvoe's 1993 play The Living, which portrays the bubonic plague in London.
Sir Liam Donaldson paid tribute to Graunt's pioneering work in 2012 on the tenth anniversary of the Public Health Observatories.[12]
See also
References
- S2CID 153963229.
- ^ "Encyclopedia of the Black Death".
- ^ Lewin 2004.
- ISBN 047084907X.
- . Retrieved 27 July 2014.
- ^
Lewin, C. G. (2004). "Graunt, John". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/11306. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ Aubrey, John (1696). Brief Lives. Oxford, At the Clarendon Press. pp. 272–4.
- ^ JSTOR 2982578.
- ^ Graunt, John; Wilcox, W (1939). Natural and political observations made upon the bills of mortality. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press.
- S2CID 27046857. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
- ^ "Speech by Chief Medical Officer regarding the ten year anniversary of the Public Health Observatories". Archived from the original on 29 February 2012. Retrieved 13 March 2012.
- ^ "Speech by Chief Medical Officer regarding the ten year anniversary of the Public Health Observatories". Archived from the original on 29 February 2012. Retrieved 13 March 2012.
External links
- Stephan, Ed. "John Graunt (1620-1674)". Retrieved 28 July 2014. Includes 1st edition of Observations.
- Graunt, John; Petty, William; Morris, Corbyn; J.P. (1759). Collection of Yearly Bills of Mortality, from 1657 to 1758 Inclusive. A. Miller. Non-continuous from 1593. The essay of Graunt is reprinted on pp. 258 ff after what is erroneously called the sixth edition (1676) on page 7 (see: Charles Henry Hull - note on Graunt's Observations in The Economic Writings of Sir William Petty, vol. 2, p. 318).
- Lecture on John Graunt, the law of decline and the origins of urban historical demography by Professor Richard Smith (29 November 2012, at Gresham College. Audio, word transcript - with references - and powerpoint presentation)
- Sir William Petty, The Economic Writings of Sir William Petty, together with The Observations upon Bills of Mortality, more probably by Captain John Graunt, ed. Charles Henry Hull (Cambridge University Press, 1899), 2 vols. Retrieved 2/16/2020 from the World Wide Web: https://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/1677