Francis Austin Cook (1918-1966)

Abstract

Frank Cook, geographer and a Fellow of the Arctic Institute, died in Ottawa in March. A native of Kamloops, B.C., he served in the Canadian Army from 1941 to 1948, and earned with distinction his geography degrees from the University of British Columbia in 1952 and the University of Wisconsin in 1953. Accepted as a doctoral candidate at McGill in 1954, ill health prevented completion of his residence requirements. He taught briefly at United College in Winnipeg before joining the staff of the Geographical Branch in 1957. His previous research activities included several summers with the Geographical Branch as well as a year with the Meteorological Service at Resolute, N.W.T. His scientific contributions were mainly in periglacial geomorphology and he published several significant papers in this field in Arctic and other journals. He was firmly convinced of the importance of assembling and making available annotated bibliographies. His detailed field investigations at Resolute resulted in several important papers, including those on the relationship of soil temperatures to the formation of patterned ground, a critique of the role of freeze-thaw cycles in mechanical disintegration of rock material, and on the significance of unrecorded precipitation in the climatic regime in the Arctic. He collaborated with Professor L. E. Hamelin of Laval University in the preparation of a monograph on periglacial phenomena which is expected to appear in the near future. When increasing poor health forced him to give up field work, he became more involved in technical editing, reviewing, and contributing to the abstract journals. Besides his contributions to the development of the Geographical Bulletin, he initiated the application of data processing techniques in the Geographical Branch. It is most unfortunate that his deteriorating health kept Frank Cook from realizing his full potential as a painstaking and original researcher. Nevertheless, his broad reading in periglacial geomorphology and his concern with analysis based on quantitative measurements were always appreciated by his colleagues, to whose research he contributed by thoughtful suggestions and encouragement. His appointment to the Canadian Committee of the Periglacial Commission of the International Geographical Union illustrates his recognized authority in this field. His death at the age of 47 deprives the profession of a competent research worker and his colleagues of a valued friend.