John Woodall

John Woodall (1570 to 1643) was an English military surgeon who was also a Paracelsian chemist, businessman, linguist and diplomat. He made a fortune by stocking medical chests, first for the East India Company and later for the armed forces of England. He wrote The Surgeon's Mate, which became the standard text advising ships' surgeons on medical treatments at sea. In that book he made dietary recommendations that would have prevented the scourge of scurvy had they been followed, so his writing is remembered both for its practical purpose and for how close it came to the remedy that was later accepted.