In 2008, Cobb became the oldest person ever to be awarded a PhD from the University of Cambridge, for his atlas.
On taking his degree in 1938, Cobb joined the Royal Engineers and in 1940 participated in the Battle of France and the Dunkirk evacuation.
For the rest of the war, Cobb served with an airborne commando force, but he was never deployed in combat, his troopship being sunk in the Mediterranean Sea en route to the Far East in 1944.
After the war he served in Burma and Egypt before becoming superintendent of the Royal School of Military Survey.
The book went through two editions, and with the support of Magdalene College, Cobb submitted his research for a PhD and was accepted, receiving his doctorate in 2008.