William Stirling MD LLD DSc FRSE (26 January 1851, in Grangemouth – 1 October 1932, in Manchester), was a Scottish physiologist.
He was educated at Dollar Academy, then studied science and medicine at the University of Edinburgh, graduating with a BSc with first class honours in 1870, DSc and MB CM both with similar distinction in 1872 and MD with gold medal in 1875.
[5] Stirling was, upon the resignation of Arthur Gamgee, appointed the Brackenbury Professor of Physiology and Histology at Owens College (in 1904 renamed the Victoria University of Manchester) from 1886 until his retirement in 1919.
His BMJ obituary notes that he was a fine lecturer for medical students and the general public, in that he was clear, precise and didactic: there was little weighing of arguments for and against physiological theories and certainly not much philosophical doubt.
He translated Leonard Landois's Lehrbuch der Physiologie des Menschen in 1884, adding some chapters of his own, including a detailed account of the examination of the chest and heart.