* Henry Brown; Prominent Metal Researcher

Henry Brown, 93, who found a way to make chrome sink faucets and automobile bumpers shine. Born in Jersey City, N.J., and educated in chemistry at the Universities of Kansas and Michigan, Brown held 96 U.S. and 250 foreign patents and earned the Scientific Achievement Award of the American Electroplating Society in 1967. During World War II, Brown invented a high-speed process for brass-plating shell cases to prevent them from sticking in artillery and helped develop the atomic bomb by making porous nickel screens to separate atomic particles. He even assisted the U.S. Treasury Department by adding copper alloy plating to steel pennies to make them shinier. After the war, Brown used sulfurous organic compounds such as saccharin to brighten the nickel plate under chrome to produce a greater shine. He also discovered that making the outer chrome layer porous could forestall corrosion. Other than war-oriented research, Brown spent his entire career at Udylite Corp. in Detroit. On March 15 in Palo Alto.