Amazon.com: Between Pacific Tides: Edward Flanders Ricketts: Books

Review

“John Steinbeck himself wrote the Foreword to the revised edition for Ricketts and his co-author Jack Calvin.”—Palo Alto Times

“Ritchie Lovejoy’s exquisite line drawings, 100 pages of them form a treasure trove both for the scientist and the lover of nature who is not scientifically trained. The general reader may take refuge here on hot days. To the scientist the book is a must.”—The Book Shelf

“The book is filled with interesting information on familiar acquaintances, from crabs and limpets to the toredo, and many less familiar.”—CTA Journal

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Description

One of the classic works of marine biology, a favorite for generations, has now been completely revised and expanded. Between Pacific Tides

is a book for all who find the shore a place of excitement, wonder, and beauty, and an unsurpassed introductory text for both students and professionals.

This book describes the habits and habitats of the animals that live in one of the most prolific life zones of the world—the rocky shores and tide pools of the Pacific Coast of the United States. The intricate and fascinating life processes of these creatures are described with affectionate care. The animals are grouped according to their most characteristic habitat, whether rocky shore, sandy beach, mud flat, or wharf piling, and the authors discuss their life history, physiology, and community relations, and the influence of wave shock and shifting tide level.

Though the basic purpose and structure—and much of the text—of the book remain the same, content has been increased by about 20 percent; a multitude of changes and additios has been made in the text; the Annotated Systematic Index and General Bibliography have been updated and greatly expanded (now almost 2,300 entries); more than 200 new photographs and drawings have been incorporated; and an entirely new chapter has been added—a topical presentation of the several factors influencing distribution of organisms along the shore. This edition also includes John Steinbeck’s Foreword to the 1948 edition.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

Hardcover: 652 pages
Publisher: Stanford University Press; 5 Sub edition (February 1986)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0804712298
ISBN-13: 978-0804712293
Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1.5 inches
Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds

Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,045,654 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
Popular in this category: (What's this?)
#30 in Books > Science > Biological Sciences > Biology > Marine Biology > Fauna

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Inside This Book (learn more)
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First Sentence:
Rocky-shore collecting is best managed by turning over small rocks by hand and lifting big ones with a bar. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
protected outer coast, common seastar, middle tide pools, upper tide pools, other seastars, lower tide pools, critical tide levels, giant red urchin, predatory seastar, subtidal form, middle intertidal, coast mollusks, times natural size, subtidal species, sacoglossan opisthobranchs, slipper snail, other hydroids, mussel clusters, low intertidal, other tunicates, owl limpet, beach hoppers, exposed piles, intertidal distribution, plate limpet

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Puget Sound, Baja California, British Columbia, San Diego, Monterey Bay, San Francisco Bay, Elkhorn Slough, Tomales Bay, Newport Bay, Point Conception, Vancouver Island, Pacific Grove, Santa Barbara, Bering Sea, Santa Cruz, San Pedro, Bodega Harbor, Friday Harbor, Los Angeles Harbor, Bodega Bay, Sonoma County, Gulf of California, Departure Bay, Humboldt Bay, Laguna Beach

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Citations (learn more)

64 books cite this book:

Beyond the Outer Shores: The Untold Odyssey of Ed Ricketts, the Pioneering Ecologist Who Inspired John Steinbeck and Joseph Campbell by Eric Enno Tamm on 39 pages
Breaking Through: Essays, Journals, and Travelogues of Edward F. Ricketts by Edward F. Ricketts on 28 pages
Dynamic Aquaria: Building Living Ecosystems by Walter H. Adey on 4 pages
Cannery Row: The History of John Steinbeck's Old Ocean View Avenue by Michael Kenneth Hemp on 4 pages
The Diversity and Evolution of Plants by Lorentz C. Pearson on page 347, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)

See all 64 books citing this book

Books on Related Topics (learn more)

The Beachcomber' S Guide to Seashore Life in the Pacific Northwest by J Duane Sept

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The Beachcomber's Guide to Seashore Life of California by J. Duane Sept

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Life Between the Tides by Jeffrey L. Brandon

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Seaside Naturalist by Deborah A. Coulombe

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	81% buy the item featured on this page: Between Pacific Tides 5.0 out of 5 stars (6)
	7% buy The Log from the Sea of Cortez (Penguin Classics) 4.4 out of 5 stars (23) $10.88
	5% buy Pacific Intertidal Life: A Guide to Organisms of Rocky Reefs and Tide Pools of the Pacific Coast (Nature Study Guides) 4.3 out of 5 stars (3) $3.95
	4% buy Exploring Pacific Coast Tidepools (Outdoor and Nature) $9.95

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Customer Reviews

6 Reviews

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5.0 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The standard field guide for the Pacific Coast of the USA, May 19, 1999

By	Alan R. Holyoak (Idaho) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

I can't believe that someone else has not reviewed this excellent guide to the intertidal biota of the Pacific Coast. This book has set the standard for reference guides to marine life along the Pacific Coast, as well as other locations. It is much more than a field guide -- though it also serves that role. This book describes the intertidal zonation patterns of the Pacific Coast as well as the ecology and aspects of the natural history of the organisms that live there. The book contains good taxonomic references as well. This is the book that many of the country's marine scientists cut their professional teeth on. If you are interested in marine biology, the diversity of life, or the ecology of nearshore habitats, this book is definitely for you. The main strength of the book is the logical organization by type of habitat and vertical elevation on the intertidal zone. The main challenge of a book like this is to remain up to date, which the publisher has managed by producing revised editions on regular basis. This book is a must for any field or arm chair marine naturalist!

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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Still & always the classic, July 12, 2003

By	John Anderson (Bar Harbor, ME USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Between Pacific Tides: Fifth Edition (Paperback)

This is probably THE serious book to have if one is going to immerse oneself in the California intertidal. Originally produced by Ed Ricketts (of Steinbeck/Cannery Row/Log From The Sea Of Cortez fame) the book has been upgraded, revised, re-edited by a plethora of "co-authors" since Ricketts' untimely death. It still retains much of Ricketts' then-revolutionary Habitat focus, which will either work for you (it does for me) or annoy the hard-core systematists out there. This ISN'T a light book to lug into the field or a light book to read -if you are just day-tripping The UC Press has a number of smaller & more accessibly illustrated field guides that I would reccomend, But if you are seriously into mmarine Bio and have some time on your hands along the California Coastline, you owe it to yourself to get this book. Even here on the Coast of Maine and twenty years removed from the West I still fid myself referring to it...

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12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Slightly Defaced Masterpiece, August 17, 2004

By	Cecil Fox (Little Rock, AR United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Between Pacific Tides: Fifth Edition (Paperback)

This book, as it was written, is a masterpiece of natural history. It is a contribution to humanistic biology that has style and description that is uncrippled by the invidious academic flatulence of the professional "scientist". It makes no pretensions. It was written by a man fascinated by the tidal seashore and the animals found therein. Read it and read it well.
Then read "Beyond the Outer Shores" by Eric Enno Tamm an unconventional biography of Ricketts that does full justice to the man and the myths.
Having gone through these impressive volumes I hope you will join me in despising Stanford University Press for what they did to Ricketts before his death and for allowing David Phillips to desecrate his memory in Edition Five.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars I am a Marine Biologist and this is the best book for the West Coast - Period!!
This is a timeless classic, very readable as the author puts you in a place (rocky intertidal or a mudflat) and then describes the animals you will see. Read more

Published on February 22, 2007 by Michael W. Gaskins

5.0 out of 5 stars A timeless classic
This is an amazing book. It was a landmark in its time, and is still useful today.

Published on November 26, 2005 by Lisa

5.0 out of 5 stars First and still best field guide to littoral ecology.
Ed Ricketts was to marine ecology what Alan Watts was to Zen, Timothy Leary was to LSD, and Jack Kerouac was to beat, and he was a little of all three. Read more

Published on December 3, 1998 by Joseph W. Hlebica

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