Customer Reviews

Between Pacific Tides: Fifth Edition

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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!

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...

This is an amazing book. It was a landmark in its time, and is still useful today.

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.

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. It is written with a wise eye and wry humor. The long lived sea anemone in Scotland that was done in after 80 some years by the "ineptitude of (we suspect) a botanist".
It is more specific to central California, but still useful in Southern Calif and the northern coast as well.

Well written update on what has to be one of the finest, clearest guides to it's subject. Anyone (scientist or layman) who does not have a copy of 'Between' somewhere on their shelf should be looked on with suspicion! Rickett's was what scientists should be!- A genuine hands on, wet feet kinda guy whose true fascination in his subject and field created a masterpiece! While not Exactly (as stated) for the specialist in the field there is no other book so comprehensive on a the flora & fauna of the west coast tide pools. All sciences of interest should have so intense and knowledgeable an author. A well and Updated version o the subject. Rickett's was a "booted & wet footed" John Muir, and a pioneer of the idea of a ecology: an INTERRELATED habitat. That the original was written by one individual, who didn't care about financial grants; didn't append his name with capital letters, but simply Loved what he did, and had the mind and perseverance to write for years to complete this work, should humble every 'professor' in Any scientific field. It's as simple as that!

For a sixty-year-old Biology text, Between Pacific Tides is remarkably entertaining. There are some priceless passages in its pages thanks to Ricketts' obvious love for the invertebrates that inhabit the beaches and tidepools of the California coast. I can't say how much his association with John Steinbeck and Joseph Campbell had to do with his writing style but it's certainly engaging, making his frequent forays into scientific nomenclature and technical jargon just a necessary part of a remarkable book. It is plentifully illustrated as well. My only regret is that I didn't buy an older edition with Steinbeck's forward.

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. This is the monumental work that put Ricketts permanently on the map as a marine ecologist, and one of the first. This book is a must-have reference for anyone who visits the seashore. I am particularly interested in the fact that persons who have ordered this book have also ordered books by Thomas Pynchon. Anyone else out there besides me get the connection? Please let me know!