S.F. Light

Sol Felty Light (May 5, 1886 – June 21, 1947) was an American zoologist, entomologist, and professor at the University of California, Berkeley, known for his research on tropical marine invertebrates and caste development in termites. From 1913 to 1947, he published approximately 70 papers, mainly on the subject of entomology. In the 1920s, he began teaching invertebrate zoology, expanding class field trips in the 1930s with five-week summer sessions at Moss Beach and Dillon Beach.

His class syllabus on zoology was originally designed for students at Berkeley, but were later published as an invertebrate zoology textbook and field guide, becoming the first compendium of marine invertebrates in the north central California coastal region for specialists working in the area between Hopkins Marine Station and Bodega Marine Laboratory. After Light's death, the book was edited, revised, and expanded by Ralph I. Smith and other contributors, becoming known as Light's Manual. After Smith himself died, the book was renamed the Light and Smith Manual in his honor.

Biography Light was born in Elm Mills, Kansas, on May 5, 1886. His father was Samuel Light, a Presbyterian minister, and his mother was Edith Frances McDill, the daughter of United States Senator James W. McDill (1834–1894) from Iowa. Other details about his early life are unknown. Light attended Park College, Missouri (AB, 1908). After graduating, he spent time abroad in Asia, where he taught for two years in Japan and two years at Manila High School in the Philippines. He went on to spend two years teaching zoology at the University of the Philippines, where he attended graduate school (MA, 1913) and participated in a marine survey at the harbor of Puerto Galera, Mindoro. From March to June 1912, Light and a team of researchers, including ichthyologist Alvin Seale (1871–1958), set up a temporary site, collecting samples for the department of zoology. They discovered that the site would be ideal for a permanent station. Bullock notes that Light's early, productive work on coelenterates, octocorals, and true jellyfish arose out of his time in the Philippines. surprising scientists who had previously believed the fish to be rare in the region. According to science historian Christine Yi Lai Luk, George Sarton (1884–1956), the founder of the history of science discipline, was so impressed by Light's paper that he cited it in his 1924 critical bibliography. That same year, Light returned to the U.S. to study termites, becoming a James M. Goewey Fellow two years later at the University of California, Berkeley, where he received his doctorate under professor Charles Atwood Kofoid on termite flagellates (PhD, 1926). As part of the committee, he served as chairman on the subcommittee on publicity, as vice-chair on biology, and chair on the advisory council. The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) said Light had an important role on this project in late 1929. That same year, Light was made full professor. and his 1935 study on termite colony castes, established him as an expert in his field.

In the 1930s, Light began teaching marine zoology and holding five-week summer courses and field trips to Moss Beach and Dillon Beach. From these classes, he developed a syllabus in 1937 which evolved into an invertebrate zoology textbook and field guide, later publishing it in book form as the Laboratory and Field Text in Invertebrate Zoology (1941). The Southern California Association of Marine Invertebrate Taxonomists (SCAMIT) recognizes the book as "the first reasonably comprehensive treatment of marine invertebrates" in the north central California coastal region. Marine ecologist James T. Carlton notes that Light's Manual was originally designed for specialists working in the area between Hopkins Marine Station and Bodega Marine Laboratory. with Light's doctoral advisor Charles Atwood Kofoid and colleague Richard M. Eakin notable members.

Legacy Light's former student, neuroscientist Theodore H. Bullock, argues that his work and influence led his students at the University of the Philippines to establish the Puerto Galera Marine Biological Laboratory in 1925. He published 70 papers, many in entomology. and, in 1961, Meredith L. Jones named Lightiella, California Academy of Sciences

Selected publications Drawing of the true jellyfish Anomalorhiza shawi by Light. It was first described in 1921 from specimens Light collected in the Philippines. A century later, research continues on this rare species.

Books Termites and Termite Control (1934). . Laboratory and Field Text in Invertebrate Zoology (1941). . Articles "Termites of Western Mexico" (1933). . "Termites of Southeastern Polynesia" (1936). "Experimental studies on ectohormonal control of the development of supplementary reproductives in the termite genus Zootermopsis (formerly Termopsis)" (1944). .

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