Don Brookfield Sr. built and sold his first working dial reading viscometer in 1934. Later, with his father, Gordon, and brother, Bernard, Brookfield incorporated the business and launched the Brookfield Dial Reading Synchro-Electric Viscometer, which would become the standard throughout the world. Brookfield passed away May 24 after an extended illness. He was 93.
Brookfield graduated from MIT in 1932 with a degree in Electro-Chemical Engineering and went to work for Gillette in Boston, where he worked until 1939, leaving to pursue his viscometer enterprise full time. In those early years, Brookfield sold his viscometers with free upgrades for the latest improved models to build his business.