We write to dispel some myths in characterizations of the marine biologist Ed Ricketts, who died in 1948 (see, for example, A. Hirsh Nature 516, 326–328; 2014).

Far from working in isolation, Ricketts interacted and corresponded with Torsten Gislén, George MacGinitie and Willis Hewatt, who all studied intertidal creatures. He did the same with scientists at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC and those at US and foreign universities. Never having taken a university degree, he was eager to tap into their expertise and to contribute to the international body of knowledge.

Hirsh's observation that Ricketts' book, Between Pacific Tides, was revolutionary because “it categorizes animals according to habitat, not phylum or family” is not the whole story. Ricketts' years of data from tidepool observations and collections resulted in a complex card-indexing and cross-referencing system that allowed him to build conclusions about species and their habitats and animal communities. As a result, his ecological data sets are still among the most robust ever to have been assembled.