George Stephen West | |
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.jpg) George Stephen West, 1902 | |
| Born | 20 April 1876 Bradford, England |
| Died | 7 August 1919 (aged 43) Edgbaston, England |
| Alma mater | St John's College, Cambridge |
| Known for | Specialist in algae and protistology |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Botany |
| Institutions | Royal Agricultural College University of Birmingham |
| Notable students | Muriel Bristol |
| Author abbrev. (botany) | G.S.West |
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George Stephen West (20 April 1876 – 7 August 1919), ARCS, FLS, was a British botanist, a specialist in phycology and protistology, a botanical illustrator and a writer. With his father, botanist William West (West, 1848–1914), he collaborated on numerous scientific books. West's brother was the botanist William West Jr (W. West, 1875–1901), who assisted their father with fieldwork.
West was professor of natural history at the Royal Agricultural College at Cirencester, then was based for the rest of his life at the University of Birmingham, where he was elected Mason Professor of Botany, following the retirement of William Hillhouse. While there, he enlarged the botany department. One of his students was Muriel Bristol. He was a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London, and president of Birmingham Natural History and Philosophical Society.
West was married with two sons who were young children when he died at age 43 of double pneumonia. He left behind numerous scientific papers and other publications, of which his 1904 Treatise on the British Fresh-Water Algae and his 1916 Algae vol.i caught public attention, because they helped students to keep pace with contemporary new research, and its consequent fast-changing classification of species. When he died, he still had significant work planned.