“There are some marine biologists whose chief interest is in the rarity, the seldom seen and unnamed animal,” John Steinbeck once wrote. “These are often wealthy amateurs, some of whom have been suspected of wishing to tack their names on unsuspecting and unresponsive invertebrates. The passion for immortality at the expense of a little beast must be very great.”

Ed Ricketts, it must be stated, attained immortality in a different way. Still, in the course of a quarter century of specimen collecting, Ricketts discovered many new species of marine invertebrates on the Pacific Coast. It was, however, corollary to his primary scientific work of understanding seashore ecology. Today, some twenty marine organisms bear the species name rickettsi or steinbecki, in honor of the contributions of both men to marine biology.

At the beginning of each chapter of the book, readers will find small line drawings of many species first discovered by Ed Ricketts and, in some cases, John Steinbeck. The scientific and common names of each species are given, along with the collecting location and date. The original specimens now reside at many prestigious museums in the United States, including the American Museum of Natural History in New York and Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.