[1] Melvin was born on October 10, 1911, in Garden City, Utah to Alonzo Laker Cook and Maude Osmond.
Their son, Merrill Cook, became a politician who served as the U.S. representative for Utah's second congressional district from 1997 to 2001.
The Texas City Disaster is considered the worst industrial accident in United States history.
He did consulting work for the Iron Ore Company of Canada, where the aluminized ammonium nitrate slurry explosive he developed was successfully used.
For his work in discovering slurry explosives, Cook received a Nitro Nobel Gold Medal in 1968, only the second time the award had been given.