Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Cook, George Hammell

COOK, George Hammell, geologist, b. in Hanover, Morris co., N. J., 5 Jan., 1818; d. in New Brunswick, N. J., 22 Sept., 1889. He was graduated at Rensselaer polytechnic institute, Troy, N. Y., in the class of 1839, and from 1842 till 1846 he was senior professor in that institution. In 1853 he became professor of chemistry and the natural sciences at Rutgers. His chair became in 1867 that of chemistry, natural history, and agriculture, and in 1878 its title was again changed to that of analytical chemistry, geology, and agriculture. In 1880 he became simply professor of geology and agriculture. Prof. Cook was elected vice-president of the college in 1864, and during the same year was appointed state geologist of New Jersey. In 1880 he was appointed director of the New Jersey agricultural experiment station, of which he published annual reports. He was a member of several scientific societies and a fellow of the American association for the advancement of science. Besides papers contributed to scientific journals, he published annual reports as state geologist from 1863 to 1885, and was the author of "Geology of New Jersey" (Newark, 1868).