Sir William Watson

author

Sir William Watson

1715–1787

Curious and wide-ranging, this 18th-century physician moved from botany into electricity and became one of the lively scientific figures of Georgian London. He helped introduce Linnaean ideas to England and was later honored with a knighthood.

1 Audiobook

Experiments and Observations Tending to Illustrate the Nature and Properties of Electricity In One Letter to Martin Folkes, Esq; President, and Two to the Royal Society

Experiments and Observations Tending to Illustrate the Nature and Properties of Electricity In One Letter to Martin Folkes, Esq; President, and Two to the Royal Society

by Sir William Watson

About the author

Born in London in 1715, William Watson trained through the world of apothecaries before building a wider reputation as a physician and natural philosopher. His early work focused on plants, and he is remembered for helping to spread the botanical system of Carl Linnaeus in England.

Watson also became known for experiments with electricity at a time when the subject was still new and exciting. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1741, later served as one of its vice presidents, and spent much of his career moving between medicine, botany, and experimental science.

He was knighted in 1786, just a year before his death in London in 1787. That mix of practical medical training and restless scientific curiosity makes him an especially interesting figure in the story of Enlightenment science.