Thomas Snow Beck

Thomas Snow Beck (1814 to 6 January 1877) was a British doctor and surgeon who qualified in medicine in London. He is remembered chiefly for a priority dispute over the nerves of the uterus. In 1845 the Royal Society awarded him its Royal Medal for an unpublished paper titled On the nerves of the uterus. When the paper was later published, the London-based Scottish surgeon Robert Lee, who had printed an earlier paper on the subject and reached different conclusions, disputed the award. The quarrel led to reform of the way the Royal Medal was awarded and is thought to have contributed to the resignation of both the President and the Secretary of the Royal Society. Beck also carried out other work on nerves, including work in 1846 on telling the white and gray rami apart. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1851.