William Withering (March 17, 1741, Wellington, Shropshire - October 6, 1799) was an English botanist, geologist, chemist, physician and the discoverer of digitalis. Introduction Trained as a doctor at the University of Edinburgh, he worked at Birmingham General Hospital from 1779. The story is that he noticed a person with dropsy (swelling from congestive heart failure) improve remarkably after taking a traditional herbal remedy; William became famous for recognising that the active ingredient… (More on With)