In later life he formed the Society of Medical Phonographers and the shorthand journal The Phonographic Record of Clinical Teaching and Medical Science. He became a figure of fun to some of his students for his advocacy of shorthand, but it clearly served him well throughout his life, from his days as a medical student, in drafting his major publications, and in collecting his case records. Contributions to neurology The Lancet wrote that 'It may be stated without fear of contradiction that Gowers was an extraordinary observer, accurate and painstaking, with a wide horizon and a sound judgment which made his deductions from observations both definite and reliable. He had a marvellous power of what might be called intensive deduction'. The British Medical Journal stated 'There can be no doubt that in neuropathology Gowers was a very remarkable teacher, and that both in that capacity and as an original investigator he did very much to enlarge its bounds and to improve its practice'. He was also renowned for the clarity of his writing, a skill which added considerably to the impact of everything he wrote. He also disseminated the great insights of Hughlings Jackson, explaining to the medical world the dense and confusing writings of the man he referred to as his 'master'. Gowers gave his name to Gowers' sign (a sign of muscular weakness), the Gowers' tract (tractus spinocerebellaris anterior) in the nervous system, Gowers' syndrome (situational vasovagal syncope), and Gowers' Round (the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery's weekly case presentation and clinical teaching session). In 1892, Gowers was one of the founding members of the National Society for the Employment of Epileptics (now the Epilepsy Society), along with Sir David Ferrier and John Hughlings Jackson. Selected books (first editions) A Manual and Atlas of Medical Ophthalmoscopy, (London: J & A Churchill, 1879). Pseudo-Hypertrophic Muscular Paralysis, (London: J & A Churchill, 1879). The Diagnosis of Diseases of the Spinal Cord, (London: J & AChurchill, 1880). Epilepsy and other Chronic Convulsive Disorders, their Causes, Symptoms and Treatment, (London: J & A Churchill, 1881). Diagnosis of the Diseases of the Brain and of the Spinal Cord, (New York: William Wood & Co, 1885). A Manual of Diseases of the Nervous System, VoI 1, (London: J & A Churchill, 1886). A Manual of Diseases of the Nervous System, Vol 2, (London: J & A Churchill, 1888). Syphilis and the Nervous System,