William Buchan

author

William Buchan

1729–1805

Best known for bringing medical advice to ordinary readers, this Scottish physician wrote one of the 18th century’s most widely read health guides. His plainspoken approach helped make medicine feel less mysterious and more practical at home.

1 Audiobook

Domestic medicine : or, a treatise on the prevention and cure of diseases by regimen and simple medicines. With an appendix, containing a dispensatory for the use of private practitioners

Domestic medicine : or, a treatise on the prevention and cure of diseases by regimen and simple medicines. With an appendix, containing a dispensatory for the use of private practitioners

by William Buchan

About the author

Born in Ancrum, Roxburghshire, in 1729, William Buchan studied at the University of Edinburgh and went on to build a career as a physician as well as a medical writer. He is remembered above all for Domestic Medicine, a hugely popular guide that explained illness, prevention, and treatment in language intended for general readers rather than specialists.

Buchan believed medical knowledge should be more widely shared, and that idea gave his writing lasting reach. Domestic Medicine was reprinted many times and became one of the best-known health books of its era, helping spread practical advice about hygiene, regimen, and simple remedies.

He later practiced in London and continued publishing works on health and public well-being. Buchan died on February 25, 1805, but his reputation endures through his effort to make medicine more accessible to everyday people.