William Stark

William Stark (1740 or 1741–1770) was an English physician and medical pioneer who investigated scurvy by experimenting on himself with fatal consequences.

Early life William was born in Birmingham, the eldest son of Thomas Stark, a merchant of Manchester. ). He studied philosophy at Glasgow University, where he graduated MA in 1758, and then proceeded to Edinburgh, where he became friends with William Cullen. and his experimenting was triggered by Ben Franklin's description of how, as a printer, he had survived for 2 weeks on a simple diet of bread and water.

His experiment started with a basic diet of bread and water with a little sugar for thirty-one days. He became 'dull and listless' so ate better until he recovered. He resumed experimenting by adding various foods, one at a time - olive oil, milk, roast goose, boiled beef, fat, figs, and veal. After two months, his gums were red and swollen, and they bled when pressure was applied, a symptom of scurvy.

His legacy was not a breakthrough discovery but his detailed record keeping indicated the importance of vitamin C to later researchers. Had he heeded the recent discoveries of James Lind, he would have known to include citrus fruits in his experimental diet. Instead he followed Pringle's advice to abstain from salt. His friends attributed his death to "the impudent zeal with which he prosecuted his investigations".

James Carmichael Smyth published The works of the late William Stark … consisting of clinical and anatomical observations, with experiments dietetical and statical (1788), eighteen years after his death.