Walter Charleton

Walter Charleton (2 February 1619 – 24 April 1707) was an English writer and natural philosopher. He is noted as a significant conduit for transmitting Epicurean ideas to England. Born in Shepton Mallet, Somerset, he studied at Magdalen Hall, Oxford, under John Wilkins. He earned an M.D. in 1641 and was appointed physician to Charles I. After the Restoration, he was a founding fellow of the Royal Society in 1663 and became a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in 1676. Charleton served as president of the Royal College of Physicians in 1689 and 1691. He also delivered the Harveian oration multiple times and served as Harveian librarian. In his later years, he retired to Nantwich before returning to London. Charleton was also a writer on theology, natural history, and antiquities, most notably his work 'Chorea Gigantum' (1663), which argued that Stonehenge was built by the Danes. He had friendships with notable figures like Thomas Hobbes and George Ent.