For as long as I can recall, my family’s celebration of the Christmas / Yule holidays has involved certain foods. Most of these are traditional old country creations, recipes that have been handed down from generation to generation. However one delicacy was added as the result of the north Oregon coast location in which my grandfather settled when arriving from Finland: crab. And not just any crab – Dungeness Crab (Metacarcinus magister / Cancer magister).
Including straight-forward, easily accessible information and identifying images of forty-six species of crabs, from the widely-known (and much coveted among seafood fanciers) Dungeness Crab, Cancer magister, to the little-known (at least to me) Pubescent Porcelain Crab, Pachycheles pubescens, as well as a concise introductory section explaining crab ecology and life history, this new field guide will easily prove itself essential to any well-stocked field bag for all Pacific Northwest coast explorations.
You and I are self-aware. My dog, in my opinion, is as well (well – aware, at least, when she’s not napping). But what about bees? Do they simply follow impulses to guide them through their daily activities? Are crabs something more than simply biological “robots,” to borrow an admittedly somewhat inapplicable word? And for that matter, can highly complex robots be something more than machines?