Laurence Austine Waddell (1854 - 1938) was a British explorer, Professor of Tibetan, Professor of Chemistry and Pathology, Indian Army surgeon, collector in Tibet, and amateur archaeologist.

Waddell also studied Sumerian and Sanskrit; he made various translations of seals and other inscriptions.

His reputation as a Assyriologist gained little to no academic recognition and his books on the history of civilization have caused controversy.

Waddell (1854–1938) qualified in medicine and chemistry at Glasgow University and in 1880 embarked on a successful career in the colonial Indian Medical Service which took him to Darjeeling, Burma and Tibet, and eventually an academic post at Calcutta Medical College. In addition, Waddell studied Sanskrit and published extensively on Tibet (his books Among the Himalayas (1899) and Lhasa and its Mysteries (1905) are also reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection). This landmark study of Tibetan Buddhism first appeared in 1895. Waddell cites earlier European scholarship, including that of Burnouf (also reissued), but emphasises that his book is based on original field research at temples and among the lay population. It covers the history of Tibetan Buddhism, its relationship with other branches of Buddhism, doctrine, places of worship, rituals and festivals, popular religion and the occult. It also includes around 200 illustrations and a substantial bibliography.

Paperback 596 pages