Richard Brookes facts for kids
Richard Brookes was an English doctor and writer who lived from about 1721 to 1763. He wrote many books on different topics like medicine, surgery, nature, and geography. Many of his books were very popular and were printed again and again.
Contents
About Richard Brookes
Richard Brookes worked as a doctor in the countryside of Surrey, England, for some time. He was also a traveler. Before 1762, he had visited places far away, including America and Africa.
Books He Wrote
Richard Brookes wrote many important books. Here are some of them:
A Book of Places (General Gazetteer)
One of his most famous books was called General Gazetteer, published in 1762. This book was like a dictionary of places around the world. It was very useful because there wasn't anything quite like it at the time. People continued to use and update this book for many years, even into the late 1800s.
Other Important Books
- History of the most remarkable Pestilential Distempers (1721): This book was about serious diseases that spread quickly.
- The Art of Angling, Rock and Sea Fishing, with the Natural History of River, Pond, and Sea Fish (1740): This book was all about fishing! It taught people how to fish in rivers, from rocks, and in the sea. It also described different kinds of fish.
- The General Practice of Physic (1751): This book explained how doctors practiced medicine.
- A System of Natural History (1763): This was a large set of six books about nature. One of these books was very important for the early study of palaeontology, which is the study of ancient life, like dinosaurs.
The "Cornwell Bone"
In his System of Natural History, Richard Brookes wrote about a special bone. This bone had been found in a quarry in Cornwell, Oxfordshire, England. Today, we know this bone came from a very large dinosaur called Megalosaurus. It is often called the "Cornwell bone" because of where it was found.
Books He Translated
Richard Brookes also translated books from other languages into English.
- He translated The Natural History of Chocolate (1724) from a French book about cocoa and sugar.
- He also translated Jean-Baptiste Du Halde's History of China, which was a big work in four volumes published in 1736.
