William Brooks Johnson (1763–1830) (also Brookes) was an English physician and botanist.
He was educated at Repton School and admitted to Christ's College, Cambridge in 1783, graduating M.B. in 1789. [1] He became a medical practitioner with a particular interest in botanical chemistry. He resided at Coxbench Hall, Derbyshire and was a member of the Derby Philosophical Society where he received encouragement from Erasmus Darwin. He associated with Jonathan Stokes and Smithson Tennant. [2]
In 1791 Johnson joined the Derby Constitutional Society. With Henry Redhead Yorke, he wrote the French Revolution-inspired "Derby Address". They took it to Paris, to present to the Constitutional Convention. [3] In 1791 Johnson joined the Derby Constitutional Society. With Henry Redhead Yorke, he wrote the French Revolution-inspired "Derby Address". They took it to Paris, to present to the National Convention. [4] Johnson in 1792 lodged with Tom Paine in the Faubourg Saint-Denis. Both Johnson and Yorke associated with the "British Club" of ex-patriate supporters of the Revolution. They broke with it, however, in 1793, over a resolution of the Club in favour of a French invasion of Great Britain. Yorke left, accused of spying for the British. [5]
Johnson was author of History of the Progress and Present State of Animal Chemistry published in three volumes in 1803. [6] It had an extended review in The Monthly Review for October 1805, which concluded that it was "a laborious collection of facts". [7] From the point of view of clinical chemistry, somewhat neglected at the end of the 18th century, Rosenfeld regards Johnson's work as attempting "to present the subject on a larger scale and with a more connected and systematic arrangement." [8]