Henry James Brooke

Henry James Brooke ( born May 25, 1771 in Exeter, † June 26 1857 in Clapham Rise, London ) was a British crystallographer and mineralogist.

He was the son of a boiled wool manufacturer and, after a broken law degree successful businessman ( wool trade with the Spaniards, mines in South America, Life Insurance in London).

His hobby was collecting minerals, plants and shells and he bequeathed his collection later the University of Cambridge. In 1815 he became a Fellow of the Geological Society of London, 1818 The Linnean Society of London in 1819 and the Royal Society. According to his article in the Dictionary of National Biography, he found 13 new mineral species such as, among others Annabergite, Autunit and Whewellite (along with Miller), Arfvedsonite, Caledonit, Childrenite, Linarit, niter, Susannite and Thomsonit.

His book on crystallography was very influential in his time. In it he proposed a new nomenclature.

His son, Charles Brooke (1804-1879) was a famous surgeon and inventor, also a Fellow of the Royal Society.

1825 brookite titanium dioxide mineral was named after him.

Writings

• With WH Miller An elementary introduction to mineralogy, London 1852

He also wrote articles on mineralogy and crystallography in the Encyclopaedia Metropolitana.