#animals without backbones

an American zoologist, invertebrate biologist, and ecologist. His book Animals Without Backbones, first published in 1938, was the first textbook in biology to be reviewed by Time and featured in Life. It has gone through several revisions  and is still in print and has been widely used as a textbook. It was still being used as of 2013.

Due to his 1938 book, Buchsbaum became known as a popularizer of science.

In middle school, I was enchanted by the irreverant black and white drawings that filled his book. They were sort of... silly looking.

Additionally, no textbook I had ever read, until then, had ever dared to tell me how monsters were made!

here’s some of the illustrations from my copy of Animals Without Backbones—the chapter heading illustrations are just gorgeous. I got this copy because the library at the field station I was working at was clearing out their inventory and I just loved the cover with its goofy flatworm and charmingly simple title!

animals without backbones