Isaac Rand

Born in Charlestown, Massachusetts in 1743, Isaac Rand graduated from Harvard in 1761. While at College he was known as a scholar and mathematician, and for thies reason he was selected as an assistant to Professor John Winthrop during his trip to Newfoundland to observe the transit of Venus in 1761, together with Samuel Williams, who succeeded Winthrop as the Hollis Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy.

After Harvard, Rand studied Medicine and established his practice in Boston. During the revolution he sided with the loyalists, but he did not contribute directly to the cause and was able to remain in Boston after independence.

He was one of the founders of the Massachusetts Medical Society in 1781, and its president between 1798 and 1804. He is most remembered for his advocacy of obstetrics and particularly his efforts "to rescue [the practice] from the hands of unqualified females".

In 1810, he was elected as one of the Overseers of Harvard College, serving until 1815. Harvard had given him an M.D. (hon) in 1799.

He was also among the founders of the Massachusetts Bible Society in 1809, and was considered a pious, charitable person.

Aside from his medical practice, Rand continued to contribute to other scientific fields, probably due to his acquaintance with John Winthrop and Samuel Williams. In 1885, he assisted Williams in the compilation of meteorological observations made for the Academia Meteorologica Palatina of Mannheim.