Farr, William

Anne Hardy, Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine, London, UK

Published online: April 2001

DOI: 10.1038/npg.els.0002508

1807–1883 British doctor who laid the foundations of the modern discipline of epidemiology.

Keywords: epidemiology; vital statistics; social reform

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Further Reading
	book Farr W (1885) Vital Statistics: A memorial volume of selections from the reports and writings of William Farr, MD, DCL, CB, FRS. Humphreys NA (ed.) London: Sanitary Institute.
	book Eyler JM (1979) Victorian Social Medicine. The Ideas and Methods of William Farr. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
	book Eyler JM (1980) "The conceptual origins of William Farr's epidemiology: numerical methods and thought in the 1830s". In: Lilienfeld A (ed.) Times, Places and Persons: Aspects of the History of Epidemiology, pp. 1–21. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
	Langmuir ADJ (1976) William Farr: Founder of modern concepts of surveillance. International Journal of Epidemiology 5: 13–18.