Wallace Coulter 1913–1998

• Book ID: 101242966
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1998
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 46 KB
• Volume: 33
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0196-4763
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-0320(19981101)33:3<289::aid-cyto1>3.0.co;2-c

✦ Synopsis

Wallace Coulter passed away on August 7, 1998. He was 85 years old. Wallace Coulter was a simple man with humility, a self-described Arkansas farm boy, but one with enormous intellect. To him, each new day presented the promise of fresh discovery. He combined a distinctive way that made him one of a kind, truly an American original. His lifelong quest was for new, innovative ways for science to serve humanity; the fruits of which provided benefits for all of mankind.

History will record his genius for observing situations and then presenting breakthrough analyses that pushed the boundaries of science ever forward. After all, his discovery of the Coulter Principle launched the modern hematology diagnosis industry and in so doing, fundamentally changed the practice of laboratory medicine. The first ''Coulter Counter'' was also the first commercial flow cytometer. This was followed by 77 patents, granted over more than 40 years of achievement. These represent a most enduring legacy.

Wallace was a true visionary, possessing the ability not only to manifest his ideas, but to anticipate the shape and form of the future waves of application. For Wallace, it was not enough simply to unravel mysteries; the challenge was always to bring hard-won scientific knowledge to the marketplace in the form of products that would better the human condition.

Wallace always guided people's energies in a positive direction and encouraged self-reliance. Most memorable of all, he challenged us to be our very best. So, it is most appropriate that we pay tribute to him as we endeavor to better understand and improve the science of cytometry, as he did. Let us attempt to carry on his tradition, to build upon the scientific platform that he has helped to create.