Dr. Frederick A. Cook, physician by profession and explorer by
inclination, was born in Callicoon Depot, Sullivan county, New York, on
June 10, 1865. He is the son of Dr. Theodore Albert Cook and was first
educated in Brooklyn, graduated from the University of the City of New
York in 1890, and received his medical degree from that institution in
the same year. His work of exploration has been confined to the arctic
regions. He was surgeon of the Peary expedition in 1891 and acted in
the like capacity for the Belgium antarctic expedition in 1897. Dr.
Cook has a fertile pen, and it is mainly through its efforts that he
is as well known to the American people as he is. He has contributed
liberally to the leading magazines, writing on the problems of the
north and south poles; is the author of a monograph on the Patagonians,
and has published a work entitled The First Antarctic Night. He is a
member of a number of scientific societies, has been decorated by King
Leopold of Belgium and has received medals from foreign geological
societies as a recognition of his services in the lines indicated.