John Arbuthnot was a Scottish physician, satirist, and polymath in London. He is best remembered for his contributions to mathematics, his membership in the Scriblerus Club, and for inventing the character of John Bull. A close friend of Jonathan Swift and Alexander Pope, he was a central figure in the Augustan literary world. Arbuthnot held the position of royal physician to Queen Anne, which placed him at the center of political and intellectual life.