Intertidal Invertebrates of the Central California Coast

At the time of Professor Lights death, the first edition of Intertidal Invertebrates of the Central California Coast: S.F. Lights Laboratory and Field Text in Invertebrate Zoology was practically out of print, and only a small amount of the work ofrevision had been carried out by the author. Since that date the work ofrevision has proceeded, moreslowly than we would have wished, alongthe lines indicatedby present and anticipated needs for a faunal manualof this sort. Recognizing that this manual will rarely, if ever, againbeused as the principal text in any course in invertebratezoology, but ratheras an adjunct to standard texts or to an instructors own syllabus, wehave generalized much of the introductory material in the various sectionsand haveomitted specific instructions for laboratory procedure in studyingparticular groups of animals. The section, Field Studies, has been modified to retain the material of general interest, including examples of theproblems upon which Dr. Light engaged his classes, but material andschedules pertaining wholly to Dr. Lights conduct of classes at theUniversity of California have been deleted. Some of the keys to fresh-water and terrestrial forms, which are better covered in other works, havealso been dropped, and the main emphasis given to the intertidal invertebrate fauna. In most instances, keys and discussions have been completely rewritten rather than simply emended. In an over-all sense, wehave edited freely in the effort to achieve a satisfactory and balancedtext, reinforced in our efforts by the knowledge of Dr. Lights dissatisfaction with the first edition. Despite these efforts, we may echo Dr.Lights characterization of the work in his preface to the first edition,and state that the second is still incomplete . . . andcontinually in process of revision . . . If we bring thisrevision to publication withoutachieving satisfaction in its completeness, we have, at least, adheredto the tradition of the first. This title is part of UC Presss Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1954.