astronomy

Robin Cook (American novelist)

Robin Cook (American novelist) is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Robin Cook (American novelist) rather than just read about it. In short: Robert Brian "Robin" Cook (born May 4, 1940) is an American physician and novelist who writes largely about medicine and topics affecting public health. He is known best for combining medical writing with the thriller genre.

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Reference excerpt

Robert Brian "Robin" Cook (born May 4, 1940) is an American physician and novelist who writes largely about medicine and topics affecting public health. He is known best for combining medical writing with the thriller genre. Many of his books have been bestsellers on The New York Times Best Seller List. Several of his books have also been featured by Reader's Digest. His books have sold nearly 400 million copies worldwide.

Early life and career Cook was born in Brooklyn, New York, and grew up in Woodside, Queens. He relocated to Leonia, New Jersey when he was eight years old, where he could first have the "luxury" of having his own room. He graduated from Leonia High School in 1958. Subsequently, Cook graduated from Wesleyan University and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and finished his postgraduate medical training at Harvard. Cook managed the Cousteau Society's blood-gas laboratory in the south of France. He later became an aquanaut with the U.S. Navy's SEALAB program when he was drafted in 1969. Cook served in the Navy from 1969 to 1971, attaining the rank of lieutenant commander. He wrote his first novel, Year of the Intern, while serving aboard the Polaris-type submarine USS Kamehameha.

Novelist The Year of the Intern, was a failure, but Cook began to study bestsellers. He said, "I studied how the reader was manipulated by the writer. I came up with a list of techniques that I wrote down on index cards. And I used every one of them in Coma." He conceived the idea for Coma, about creating illegally a supply of transplant organs, in 1975. In March 1977, that novel's paperback rights sold for $800,000. It was followed by the Egyptology thriller Sphinx in 1979 and another medical thriller, Brain, in 1981. Cook then decided he preferred writing rather than a medical career. Cook's novels combine medical fact with fantasy. His medical thrillers are designed, in part, to keep the public aware of both the technological possibilities of modern medicine and the socio-ethical problems associated with it. Cook says he chose to write thrillers because they give him "an opportunity to get the public interested in things about medicine that they didn't seem to know about. I believe my books are actually teaching people." The author admits he never thought that he would have such compelling material to work with when he began writing fiction in 1970. "If I tried to be the writer I am today a number of years ago, I wouldn't have very much to write about. But today, with the pace of change in biomedical research, there are any number of different issues, and new ones to come," he says. Cook's novels have anticipated national controversy. In an interview with Stephen McDonald about the novel Shock, Cook admitted the book's timing was fortuitous:

I suppose that you could say that it's the most like Coma in fact that it deals with an issue that everybody seems to be concerned about. I wrote this book to address the stem cell issue, which the public really doesn't know anything about. Besides entertaining readers, my main goal is to get people interested in some of these issues, because it's the public that ultimately should be able to decide which way we ought to go in something as ethically questioning as stem cell research. To date, Cook has fictionalized issues such as organ donation, fertility treatment, genetic engineering, in vitro fertilization, research funding, managed care, medical malpractice, medical tourism, drug research, and organ transplantation.

"I joke that if my books stop selling, I can always fall back on brain surgery," he says. "But I am still very interested in it. If I had to do it over again, I would still study medicine. I think of myself more as a doctor who writes, rather than a writer who happens to be a doctor." He explained the popularity of his works thus: "The main reason is, we all realize we are at risk. We're all going to be patients sometime," he says. "You can write about great white sharks or haunted houses, and you can say I'm not going into the ocean or I'm not going in haunted houses, but you can't say you're not going to go into a hospital." Many of his novels concern hospitals (both fictional and non-fictional) in Boston, which may have to do with the fact that he had his post-graduate training at Harvard and lives in Boston, and/ or in New York.

Personal life He is on leave from the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. Cook is a private member of the Woodrow Wilson Center's Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees, directed by chairman Joseph B. Gildenhorn, are appointed to six-year terms by the President of the United States.

Books Year of the Intern (1972), ISBN 978-0-451-16555-8 Coma (1977), ISBN 978-0-451-20739-5 Sphinx (1979), ISBN 978-0-451-15949-6 Brain (1980), ISBN 978-0-399-12563-8 Fever (1982), ISBN 978-0-425-17420-3 Godplayer (1983), ISBN 978-0-425-17638-2 Mindbend (1985), ISBN 978-0-451-14108-8 Outbreak (1987), ISBN 978-0-425-10687-7 Mortal Fear (1988), ISBN 978-0-425-11388-2 Mutation (1989), ISBN 978-0-425-11965-5 Harmful Intent (1990), ISBN 978-0-425-12546-5 Vital Signs (1991), ISBN 978-0-425-13176-3 Terminal (1993), ISBN 978-0-425-15506-6 Fatal Cure (1993), ISBN 978-0-425-14563-0 Acceptable Risk (1995), ISBN 978-0-425-15186-0 Invasion (1997), ISBN 978-0-425-21957-7 Toxin (1998), ISBN 978-0-425-16661-1 Abduction (2000), ISBN 978-0-425-17736-5 Shock (2001), ISBN 978-0-425-18286-4 Seizure (2003), ISBN 978-0-425-19794-3 Death Benefit (2011), ISBN 978-0-425-25036-5 Nano (2013), ISBN 978-0-425-26134-7 Cell (2014), ISBN 978-0-399-16630-3 Host (2015), ISBN 978-0-399-17214-4 Charlatans (2017), ISBN 978-0-735-21248-0 Viral (2021), ISBN 978-0-593-32829-3 Bellevue (2024), ISBN 978-0-593-71883-4 Jack Stapleton and Laurie Montgomery series Blindsight (1992), ISBN 978-0-425-13619-5 Contagion (1995), ISBN 978-0-425-15594-3 Chromosome 6 (1997), ISBN 978-0-425-16124-1 Vector (1999), ISBN 978-0-425-17299-5 Marker (2005), ISBN 978-0-425-20734-5 Crisis (2006), ISBN 978-0-425-21657-6 Critical (2007), ISBN 978-0-425-22288-1 Foreign Body (2008), ISBN 978-0-425-22895-1 Intervention (2009), ISBN 978-0-425-23538-6 Cure (2010), ISBN 978-0-425-24260-5 Pandemic (2018), ISBN 978-0-525-53534-8 Genesis (2019), ISBN 978-0-525-54215-5 Night Shift (2022), ISBN 978-1-529-09877-8 Manner of Death (2023), ISBN 978-0-593-71389-1 Spasm (2025), ISBN 979-8-217-04493-1

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Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Robin Cook (American novelist)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Robin Cook (American novelist) claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Robin Cook (American novelist) before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Robin Cook (American novelist) ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Robin Cook (American novelist)

In research: Robin Cook (American novelist) appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Robin Cook (American novelist) in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Robin Cook (American novelist) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1940 births, 20th-century American male novelists, 20th-century American non-fiction writers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Robin Cook (American novelist) outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Robin Cook (American novelist) in 20 minutes

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Frequently asked questions

What is Robin Cook (American novelist) in simple terms?

Why does Robin Cook (American novelist) matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Robin Cook (American novelist)?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Robin Cook (American novelist).