author
Walter S. Colman
1864–1934
A physician and medical writer of the late Victorian and Edwardian era, he is best remembered for turning laboratory practice into a clear, practical guide for students. His work helped make histological methods more approachable at a time when modern pathology was taking shape.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Born in 1864, Walter Stacy Colman was educated at Bishops Stortford College and then studied medicine at Peterborough Infirmary, the University of Edinburgh, and University College London. He qualified in 1886 and went on to build a career in pathology and children's medicine.
Colman is especially associated with Great Ormond Street Hospital, where he served as a pathologist and physician. He also became linked with the Royal College of Physicians, and his career reflects the growing importance of laboratory-based medicine in Britain in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
For readers today, he is most likely to be known as the author of Section Cutting and Staining, a practical manual on histological methods for students and practitioners. The book's lasting appeal comes from its direct, useful style: it was written to help people do the work, not just study the theory. Colman died in 1934.