John Hurrell Crook (27 November 1930 – 15 July 2011) was a British
ethologist who filled a pivotal role in British
primatology.[1]
As
Reader in Ethology (animal behaviour) in the Psychology Department of
University of Bristol, he led a research group studying social and reproductive behaviour in birds and primates throughout the 1970s–80s, turning to the
socio-psychological anthropology of
Himalayan peoples in the 1990s.[2] In his later years he was the Teacher of the Western Chan Fellowship.[3]
Crook was a pioneer in the early development of socio-ecology, adding this dimension to ethology which was then dominated by the ideas of
"Niko" Tinbergen and
Konrad Lorenz. His student paper on the gulls of
Southampton Water[5] while at
University of Southampton, led to his doctoral study at
Jesus College, Cambridge[6] of the weaver birds (Ploceidae) of West Africa, supervised by
William Homan Thorpe and
Robert Hinde. This was followed by further research in India, the Seychelles Islands and East Africa. His theoretical interpretation subsequently contributed to
David Lack's discussion of the behavioural component in avian population research.[7] His fieldwork was further supported by laboratory experimentation on the
endocrinal basis for the behaviour observed in the field.[8]
After moving to Bristol University, he collaborated with Professor K.R.L. Hall in establishing a centre for primate studies, extending socio-ecological principles to primates,[9] supervising doctoral projects and leading field research in Ethiopia on
geladas and in Morocco on the
Barbary macaque, subsequently developed by
Robin Dunbar and John Deag respectively.
His year[10] as Fellow at the
Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University in California introduced him to the new techniques of humanistic psychotherapy. On return to Bristol, his students requested him to demonstrate these methods, leading to the creation of the Bristol Encounter Centre and to his teaching of the subject widely in the UK, especially based on workshops run at his retreat centre in mid Wales.
In 1977, Crook led an expedition to
Zanskar in the
Himalayas of
Ladakh, a pilot study focussing on
polyandry.[11] For several years, he and colleagues led further expeditions studying the geology, agriculture, social and family life and monastic practices in this remote, high-altitude region.[12] He later returned with
James Low, a
Tibetologist fluent in the texts and language, to study the lives of Buddhist hermits in the mountains.[13]
Retiring early, he began practising Zen Buddhism in intensive retreats taught at
Dharma Drum Retreat Center in New York by Chan Master
Sheng-yen of
Dharma Drum Mountain, Taiwan, who in 1993 transmitted to him the authority to teach Chan Buddhism.[14] Forming the Western Chan Fellowship with colleagues, Crook developed a programme of retreats adapted to Western Zen practitioners.
Crook published around a hundred scientific papers in
ornithology, ethology and
evolutionary psychology, and several books focussing on
consciousness[15] and Zen practice.[16] His last work was World Crisis and Buddhist Humanism (New Age Books, Delhi 2009).
He died on 15 July 2011, shortly after a gathering of many former students and colleagues in Somerset to celebrate his life. Dr Innes Cuthill, Professor of Behavioural Ecology at Bristol University, described him as "a pivotal figure in the rise of British primatology and socio-ecology".[1]
Honours
Osman Hill Medal. Primate Society of Great Britain. 1992.
John H. Crook (Editor), Social behaviour in Birds and Mammals: Essays on the Social Ethology of Animals and Man. Academic. 1970.
R. P. Michael and John H. Crook (Editors), Comparative Ecology and Behaviour of Primates. Academic Press Inc, 1973.
ISBN978-0-12-493450-4
John H. Crook, The Evolution of Human Consciousness. Oxford University Press, 1980.
ISBN978-0-19-857187-2
John H. Crook, Catching a Feather on a Fan: Zen Retreat with Master Sheng Yen. Element Books, 1991.
ISBN978-1-85230-194-1
John H. Crook and David Fontana, Space in Mind: East-West Psychology & Contemporary Buddhism. Thorsons/Element, 1993.
ISBN978-1-85230-154-5
John H. Crook and Henry Osmaston, Himalayan Buddhist Villages: Environment, Resources, Society and Religious Life in Zangskar, Ladakh. Bristol Classical Press, 1994.
ISBN978-0-86292-386-0
John H. Crook and James Low, The Yogins of Ladakh: A Pilgrimage Among the Hermits of the Buddhist Himalayas. Motilal Banarsidass, 1997.
ISBN978-81-208-1462-2
John H. Crook, Hilltops of the Hong Kong Moon. Minerva. 1997.
John H. Crook, Illuminating Silence. Watkins. London. 2002.
John H. Crook, Simon Child, Zarko Andricevic, Max Kalin, and Master Sheng-yen. Chan Comes West. North Atlantic Books, 2005.
ISBN978-1-55643-543-0
^Crook, J.H. 2007. Shamans, yogins and indigenous psychologies. Chapter 35. In Dunbar R.I.M. and L. Barrett. The Oxford Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology. Oxford.
^Crook, J.H. 1997. Hilltops of the Hong Kong Moon. Minerva.
^Crook, J.H. 1953. An observational study of the gulls of Southampton Water. British Birds 46: 386–397.
^Crook, J.H. 1964. The Evolution of Social organisation and Visual Communication in the Weaver Birds (Ploceinae). Behaviour Monograph. 10. Brill. Leiden.
^Lack, D. 1966. Population Studies of Birds. Clarendon. Oxford, quoting Crook, J.H. 1965. The adaptive significance of Avian Social organisations. Symp. Zool. Soc. Lond. 14: 181–218. Also Crook, J.H. 1970. Social organisation and the environment: aspects of contemporary Social Ethology. Animal Behaviour 18: 197–209.
^For example: Crook, J.H. and P. Butterfield. 1970. Gender role in the social system of Quelea. pp. 221–248. In Social behaviour in Birds and Mammals. J.H. Crook (Ed.). Academic. London.
^Crook, J.H. and J.S. Gartlan. 1966. Evolution of Primate Societies. Nature 210: 1200–1203.
^See: Crook, J.H. (Ed.) 1970. Social behaviour in Birds and Mammals: Essays on the Social Ethology of Animals and Man. Academic. London.
^Crook, J.H. and S. Crook. 1988. Tibetan polyandry: problems of adaptation and fitness. In: L. Betzig, M. Borgerhof Mulder and P. Turke (Eds). Human Reproductive Behaviour. Cambridge.
^Crook, J.H. and H. Osmaston (Eds.) Himalayan Buddhist Villages. Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi and Bristol University. 1994.
^Crook, J.H. 1995. Psychological processes in Cultural and Genetic Co-evolution. In: E. Jones and V. Reynolds (Eds.) Survival and Religion. Wiley. Crook. J.H. and J. Low. 1997. The Yogins of Ladakh: A Pilgrimage Among the Hermits of the Buddhist Himalayas. Motilal Banarsidass. Delhi.
^Li, R. (Ed.) 2002. Chan comes West. Dharma Drum Publications.
^Crook, J.H. 1980. The Evolution of Human Consciousness. Clarendon. Oxford.
^Crook, J.H. 2002. Illuminating Silence. Watkins. London. Crook, J.H. 2009. The Koans of Layman John. Lulu.