(Born: Lawrenceville near Princeton, New Jersey, U.S.A., 15 May 1866; Died: Princeton, New Jersey, U.S.A., 20 January 1937) American biologist, mineralogist & crystallographer.

Phillips graduated from Princeton in 1887, and immediately began a 49 year teaching career at that institution. He was for some years an instructor in biology, and afterwards analytical chemistry and mineralogy. In 1898, he was appointed assistant professor of mineralogy and in 1903 he succeeded H.B. Cornwall as full professor of mineralogy. He was chairman of the organizing committee for the foundation in 1919 of the Mineralogical Society of America, becoming its president in 1931.

Biographical references: ABA: I 1270, 390-391; II 473, 297-300. • American Mineralogist: 22 (1937), no. 11, 1094-8, portrait [by A.F. Buddington]. • Cleevely, World Palæontological Collections, 1983: 230. • Mineralogical Magazine: 25 (1939), 298 [by L.J. Spencer]. • Proceedings of the Geological Society of America: 1936, 241-8, portrait [by A.F. Buddington]. • Sarjeant, Geologists, 1980: 3, 1884. • WBI.

1. English, 1912.
Mineralogy | An Introduction To | The Theoretical And Practical | Study Of Minerals | By | Alexander Hamilton Phillips, D.Sc. | Professor Of Mineralogy In Princeton | University | New York | The Macmillan Company | 1912 | All rights reserved.

8°: [i]-viii, [2], [1]-699, [1] p., 533 text illus. Page size: 218 x 130 mm.

Contents: [i-ii], Half title page, "Mineralogy," verso "The Macmillan Company | ... 7 lines ..."; [iii-iv], Title page, verso "Copyright, 1912, | By The Macmillan Company."; v-vi, "Preface"-signed Alexander Hamilton Phillips, September 1912.; [vii]-viii, "Contents."; [1 pg], Sectional title page.; [1 pg], Blank.; [1]-680, Text.; [681]-699, "Index."

Scarce. This basic mineralogical textbook bears a close resemblance to Miers' book on the subject. It is divided into 3 sections: I. Crystallography (pp. 1-218), II. Descriptive Mineralogy (pp. 219-545) and III. Determinative Mineralogy (pp. 546-680). Within crystallography, Phillips describes the various crystal systems, methods of drawing crystals, optical properties and the use of the goniometer. The section of descriptive mineralogy describes the origins of minerals, physical properties and the system of mineralogy based upon Dana's. Finally, within determinative mineralogy, are described various reagents and blowpipes. Included are three tables for the determination of the more common minerals: 1. by physical properties, 2. through thin sections and 3. by chemical tests. The heavily illustrated text concludes with a comprehensive index.

Reissue, 1921: Mineralogy | An Introduction To | The Theoretical And Practical | Study Of Minerals | By | Alexander Hamilton Phillips, D.Sc. | Professor Of Mineralogy In Princeton | University | New York | The Macmillan Company | 1921 | All rights reserved. 8°: [i]-viii, [2], [1]-699, [1] p., 533 text illus.

[i-ii], Half title page, "Mineralogy," verso "The Macmillan Company | ... 7 lines ..."; [iii-iv], Title page, verso "Copyright, 1912, | By The Macmillan Company."; v-vi, "Preface"-signed Alexander Hamilton Phillips, September 1912.; [vii]-viii, "Contents."; [1 pg], Sectional title page.; [1 pg], Blank.; [1]-680, Text.; [681]-699, "Index."

Scarce. Mechanical reproduction of the 1912 original edition.

Bibliographical references: Book Review Digest: 1913, 412. • Dana's 7th (Bibliography): 78. • Engineering News: 68 (1912), 1121. • Engineering Record: 67 (1913), 308. • Nature: 91 (22 May 1913), 291.

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