Complex sentence: John Shaw Billings (April 12,1838--March 11,1913) was an American librarian and surgeon best known as the modernizer of the Library of the Surgeon General's Office of the Army and as the first director of the New York Public Library.
Split into simpler sentences: John Shaw Billings (April 12,1838--March 11,1913) was an American librarian and surgeon. However, he is best known as the modernizer of the Library of the Surgeon General's Office of the Army and as the first director of the New York Public Library.