He is best known for promoting statistical studies of populations, including setting up a system in Massachusetts that became a model, and planning the interview schedules for the federal Census of 1850.

[1] Shattuck became a merchant as a bookseller and publisher in Concord, Massachusetts, in 1823 and was elected as a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1831.

He helped convince Congress to fund a much more complex census, and he designed most of the interview form used by door-to-door canvassers.

[5] It explained how to remove the giant mounds of dirt and dung that were accumulating in fast growing cities, and inspired reforms in many states.

The names of 23 pioneers of public health and tropical medicine were chosen to be honored when the School was built in 1929.