Early on in his career as a doctor, Henry Gray (c.1827-1861) showed a particular interest in anatomy. Aged just 20 he became a member of the Royal College of Surgeons. After the award of fellowships by the Royal Society and the RCS, he was appointed house surgeon at St George's Hospital, London, and then lecturer in anatomy at its medical school. Gray died tragically young at the age of 34, after contracting a severe form of smallpox. Henry Carter (1831-1897) was an anatomical artist and surgeon who created the illustrations for Gray's textbook. George Davidson studied languages and linguistics at the universities of Glasgow, Edinburgh and Strasbourg, and is a graduate of Edinburgh University. A former senior editor with Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, he is now a freelance compiler and editor of dictionaries and other reference books.

He is an Elder of the Church of Scotland, and lives in Edinburgh.