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Guide to the Raymond B. Cowles Papers
MS-02
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Title: Raymond B. Cowles papers
Dates: 1920-1992
Collection number: MS-02
Creator:
Cowles, Raymond B. (Raymond Bridgman), 1896-1975
Collection Size:
6 linear feet
8 boxes
Repository:
Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration (University of California, Santa Barbara). C. H. Muller Library
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9615
Abstract: This collection consists of correspondence, published and unpublished manuscripts, photographs, artifacts, and biographical
materials of zoologist and UCLA professor Raymond Cowles.
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
Collection is open for research.
Copyright has not been assigned to the Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration, UC Santa Barbara. All requests
for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director. Permission for publication
is given on behalf of the Cheadle Center as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission
of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.
Raymond B. Cowles papers, MS-02, Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration. University of California, Santa
Barbara.
Gift of Kay Wolsey, Cowles' daughter.
Arrangement and description of this collection was made possible by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
Biography / Administrative History
Ecologist, naturalist, and teacher Raymond Bridgman Cowles was born in 1896 in Natal, South Africa to missionary parents.
He left Africa for the United States where he attended school, worked, served in the military during WWI, and attended Pomona
College, earning a bachelor's degree in 1920. Following field work in Africa from 1925-27, he received his PhD in zoology
from Cornell in 1928 and began working at UCLA in 1929, where he taught zoology until 1963.
Cowles wrote extensively about animals and specifically about reptilian thermoregulation, his pioneering research, from the
1920s through the mid 1970s. Other areas of research were fire ecology, desert ecology, continental drift and climate change,
and overpopulation. Population issues, such as poverty, limited natural resources, famine, and birth control overlaid many
of his arguments and were a concern stemming from his South African upbringing. Cowles published over 100 articles and wrote
two books:
Zulu Journal published in 1959 and
Desert Journal published in 1977.
Cowles was recognized for his teaching and research with many awards and honors, including an honorary doctorate of science
from Pomona College; the Cowles Animal Medical Ward at the Living Desert Reserve; and the UC Cowles Temescal Canyon Reserve
in the Santa Monica Mountains, dedicated in 1978. Cowles died in 1975 at the age of 79.
Scope and Content of Collection
This collection of papers deals predominantly with the published and unpublished writings of Raymond Cowles. The Correspondence
series gives an insight into Cowles' struggles to publish his works on overpopulation in a timely fashion, as well as his
views on various issues appearing in his writings. Noted correspondents include colleagues Kenneth Norris, Garrett Hardin,
and Robert Stebbins, as well as Zulu chief Gatsha Buthelizi. The series Published Writings and Unpublished Writings contain
the bulk of the collection. Among the highlights are the two versions of his unpublished book
On the Bondage of Human Numbers, a pessimistic look at the future of unrenewable, limited resources and the effects of overpopulation, which was to be published
by University of Oklahoma press in 1968, as well as a different version co-written with Lucy Birzis. Also included are early
drafts for his last book
Desert Journal, published posthumously in 1977 with Elna Bakker, and a futuristic and optimistic novel that takes place 300 years after
what Cowles predicted would be an
economic-radiation crash. The Photograph series includes many images of desert reptiles and birds both in Africa and California, and photos of Zululand.
Many of the photos have captions. The Artifact series contains the most unusual items--detritus from the first atomic bombs
detonated in New Mexico in 1944, collected by Cowles during a survey he conducted on the effects of radiation on desert animals.
This collection is organized into 7 series: Series 1 Biographical Materials, Series 2 Correspondence, Series 3 Professional
Activities, Series 4 Published Writings, Series 5 Unpublished Writings, Series 6 Photographs, and Series 7 Artifacts.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.
Desert ecology--California
Overpopulation
Reptiles--Physiology
Zoologists--California
field notes
Cowles, Raymond B. (Raymond Bridgman), 1896-1975
Desert ecology--South Africa--KwaZulu Natal
Cowles' reprint collection and his published books are housed separately in the library.