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John Arbuthnot

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Author

The Resume

    (April 1667-February 27, 1735)
    Born in Kincardineshire, Scotland, United Kingdom
    Physician, mathematician and satirist
    Physician to Queen Anne (1705-14)
    Elected a fellow of the Royal Society (1704)
    Member of the Scriblerus Club with Jonathan Swift and Alexander Pope
    Wrote 'Of the Laws of Chance' (1692), 'Law Is a Bottomless Pit' (1712) and 'A Treatise on the Art of Political Lying' (1713)

Why he might be annoying:

    He was absent-minded.
    A lot of his satire does not make much sense unless you are well versed in early 18th century British politics.
    He published anonymously, so many of his works were originally attributed to Swift.
    Some of his manuscripts were lost when he let his children make paper kites out of them.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He published the first work about probability in English.
    He created the character John Bull, who became an enduring personification of England.
    He contributed material for Swift's 'Gulliver's Travels' and Pope's 'Dunciad.'
    He wrote, 'All political parties die at last of swallowing their own lies.'
    Swift wrote, 'The doctor has more wit than we all have, and his humanity is equal to his wit.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 15 Votes: 73.33% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 5 Votes: 80.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 7 Votes: 42.86% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 7 Votes: 57.14% Annoying