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Sir William Bowman, Bt
Sir William Bowman, 1st Baronet
Born	20 July 1816 Nantwich, Cheshire, England
Died	29 March 1892 Dorking, Surrey
Nationality	English
Fields	surgeon histologist anatomist
Known for	microscopes

Sir William Bowman, 1st Baronet (20 July 1816 – 29 March 1892) was an English surgeon, histologist & anatomist. He is most famous for his research using microscopes to study various human organs, though during his lifetime he pursued a successful career as an ophthalmologist.

Born in Nantwich, Cheshire, England, third son of a banker & amateur botanist/geologist, Bowman attended Hazelwood School near Birmingham from 1826.^[1] A childhood accident involving gunpowder is supposed to have interested him in medicine, and he was apprenticed to surgeon Joseph Hodgson at Birmingham General Hospital in 1832.^[1] He left Birmingham in 1837 to further his training as a surgeon and attended King's College London, where he served as a prosector under Robert Bentley Todd, a Professor of physiology.

His earliest notable work was on the structure of striated muscle, for which he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1841.^[1] At the young age of 25, he identified what then became known as the Bowman's capsule, a key component of the nephron. He presented his findings in 1842 in his paper "On the Structure and Use of the Malpighian Bodies of the Kidney" to the Royal Society and was awarded the Royal Medal. His collaboration with Todd led to the publication of the five-volume "Physiological Anatomy and Physiology of Man" (1843-1856) and "Cyclopaedia of Anatomy and Physiology" (1852), which detailed their research on microscopy and histology, relating minute anatomical observations to physiological functions. Their extensive use of the microscopes revolutionized the study of anatomy and physiology. Apart from the Bowman's capsule, other anatomical structures named after him include:

• Bowman's glands — in the olfactory mucosa
• Bowman's membrane — the anterior limiting membrane in the cornea

After completing his surgical training in 1844, Bowman practised as an ophthalmologist at the Royal London Ophthalmic Hospital (later known as Moorfields Eye Hospital). He was an early user of the opthalmoscope invented by Hermann von Helmholtz in 1851.^[1] Between 1848 and 1855, he also taught at King's College. In 1880, he founded the 'Ophthalmological Society', which later became the Royal College of Ophthalmologists.

In 1884, Queen Victoria created him as a baronet. He died at his house, Joldwynds, near Dorking, in Surrey in 1892.

References

• Galst, Jay M (Apr 2007), "Sir William Bowman (1816-1892).", Archives of ophthalmology 125 (4): 459, 2007 April, doi:10.1001/archopht.125.4.459, PMID 17450657  
• Frixione, Eugenio (2006), "Muscle microanatomy and its changes during contraction: the legacy of William Bowman (1816-1892).", Journal of Muscle Research and Cell Motility 27 (1): 9–20, doi:10.1007/s10974-005-9048-z, PMID 16465470  
• Haviv, Y S (2000), "Figures in the historical dispute over renal function. Part II: Karl Ludwig versus Rudolph Heidenhain and William Bowman.", Journal of medical biography 8 (1): 32–8, 2000 February, PMID 10994045  
• Eknoyan, G (1996), "Sir William Bowman: his contributions to physiology and nephrology.", Kidney Int. 50 (6): 2120–8, 1996 December, doi:10.1038/ki.1996.538, PMID 8943499  
• Roman, F S (Oct 1992), "Sir William Bowman.", The British journal of ophthalmology 76 (10): 639, 1992 October, doi:10.1136/bjo.76.10.639, PMID 1420050  
• Trevor-Roper, P (1992), "Sir William Bowman—1816-1892.", The British journal of ophthalmology 76 (3): 129, 1992 March, doi:10.1136/bjo.76.3.129, PMID 1540552  
• Davis, B T (1982), "The formative years of Sir William Bowman, F. R. S.", Histoire des sciences médicales 17 (Spec 2): 169–71, PMID 11612284  
• Law, F W, "Sir William Bowman.", Survey of ophthalmology 19 (5): 302–7, PMID 1092012  
• Lilien, O M (Jul 1972), "Sir William Bowman (1816-1892).", Investigative urology 10 (1): 107–8, 1972 July, ISSN 0021-0005, PMID 4556711  
• Grondona, F (1971), "[Structure and function of the kidney according to William Bowman]", Clio medica (Amsterdam, Netherlands) 6 (3): 195–204, 1971 September, PMID 4113808  
• Thomas, K B (1966), "The manuscripts of Sir William Bowman.", Medical history 10 (3): 245–56, 1966 July, PMID 5330007  

External links

• Heath, Parker. Sir William Bowman. Bull Med Libr Assoc. 1936 May; 24(4): 205–208. Scanned pages of the original article, at PubMed Central.
• Thomas, K.B. The manuscripts of Sir William Bowman. Med Hist. 1966 July; 10(3): 245–256. PDF article at PubMed Central.

Publications by Sir William Bowman

• Todd, Robert Bentley; Bowman, William (1857), The Physiological Anatomy and Physiology of Man, Philadelphia: Blanchard and Lea, http://books.google.com.au/books?id=rfglMUpvO2oC, retrieved 2008-08-03  , full download available at Google Book Search.

• Bowman, William (1849), Lectures on the parts concerned in the operations on the eye, and on the structure of the retina: Delivered at the Royal London Ophthalmic Hospital, Moorfields, June 1847. To which are Added, a Paper on the Vitreous Humor; and Also a Few Cases of Ophthalmic Disease, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, http://books.google.com.au/books?id=njIEAAAAQAAJ  , full download available at Google Book Search.