Alfred B. (Alfred Broadhead) Searle

Born in 1877, Alfred Broadhead Searle was a British consulting and analytical chemist based in Sheffield. Records from the Imperial War Museum's Lives of the First World War project identify him in that profession and location, and library and catalog sources consistently list his lifespan as 1877–1967.

Searle wrote extensively about ceramics, clay, cement, bricks, colloids, and related industrial materials. His known works include The Natural History of Clay, Clays and Clay Products, Cement, Concrete and Bricks, The Use of Colloids in Health and Disease, and An Encyclopedia of the Ceramic Industries, showing how wide his interests ranged across practical chemistry and manufacturing.

What makes his work interesting for modern listeners is its mix of science and usefulness. Rather than treating clay and other common materials as dull technical subjects, he explained how they behave, how they are used, and why they matter in everyday industry.