author
Sherburne Friend Cook
1896–1974
A Berkeley physiologist who ventured far beyond his home field, he became a pioneering voice in the study of Native American population history. His work helped reshape how scholars understood demography, disease, and colonial impact in California and Mesoamerica.
4 Audiobooks
Colonial Expeditions to the Interior of California Central Valley, 1800-1820
by Sherburne Friend Cook
The Aboriginal Population of Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, California
by Sherburne Friend Cook
The Aboriginal Population of the North Coast of California
by Sherburne Friend Cook
The Aboriginal Population of the San Joaquin Valley, California
by Sherburne Friend Cook
About the author
Born in Springfield, Massachusetts, on December 31, 1896, Sherburne Friend Cook studied at Harvard, earning degrees in physiology before joining the University of California, Berkeley, in 1928. He later became professor and chair of Berkeley’s physiology department and remained there until his retirement in 1966.
Although trained as a physiologist, Cook became especially influential in anthropology, archaeology, and historical demography. He was known for applying quantitative methods to the study of Indigenous populations in North America and Mesoamerica, and for examining the effects of European contact, disease, and social disruption on Native communities.
Cook died on November 7, 1974, on the Monterey Peninsula. His papers are preserved at The Bancroft Library at UC Berkeley, reflecting a career that crossed disciplines and left a lasting mark on the study of population history.