Christopher Merret

author

Christopher Merret

1614–1695

A curious seventeenth-century physician and natural philosopher, he is often remembered for recording an early method for making sparkling wine and for turning practical science into readable English. His work also helped lay foundations in British natural history, especially the cataloging of birds and butterflies.

1 Audiobook

A Short View of the Frauds and Abuses Committed by Apothecaries As well in Relation to Patients, as Physicians: And Of the only Remedy thereof by Physicians making their own Medicines.

A Short View of the Frauds and Abuses Committed by Apothecaries As well in Relation to Patients, as Physicians: And Of the only Remedy thereof by Physicians making their own Medicines.

by Christopher Merret

About the author

Born in Gloucestershire in 1614/1615, Christopher Merret was an English physician, scientist, and early Fellow of the Royal Society. He studied at Oxford, practiced medicine in London, and moved comfortably between learned medicine and hands-on subjects such as natural history, metallurgy, and glassmaking.

Merret is best known today for noting that winemakers added sugar to create wines that became lively and sparkling in the bottle, a detail that has made him part of the history of sparkling wine. He also compiled some of the earliest published lists of British birds and butterflies, showing the wide range of his scientific interests.

Another lasting contribution was his English translation of Antonio Neri's The Art of Glass in 1662, expanded with extensive observations of his own. That book helped spread technical knowledge about glassmaking to English readers and reflects the practical, wide-ranging curiosity that runs through his career.