1731?-1784

English Physician

Matthew Dobson was a medical pioneer who discovered and described conditions such as hyperglycemia and sought further understanding of known diseases such as diabetes. Because medical knowledge of diabetes was limited in the 1700s, his research and observations aided other physicians in diagnosing patients' illnesses more accurately and in developing more effective treatments. Dobson's scientific writings provided a foundation for future generations of medical researchers.

Not much is known about Dobson's early life. Some biographical sources state that he was almost 40 years old when he died in 1784, suggesting that he was born around 1745, while others place his birth date a decade earlier, in the 1730s. The 1753 date of his first dissertation suggests that the latter estimate is correct. Biographical sketches of Dobson's wife, the notable translator and writer Susannah Dobson, say that her husband was from Liverpool and was buried at Bath, a...