A Best Book of 2020: The Washington Post * NPR *
Chicago Tribune * Smithsonian
A "remarkable" (Los Angeles Times), "seductive" (The Wall Street
Journal) debut from the new cohost of Radiolab, Why Fish Don't
Exist is a dark and astonishing tale of love, chaos, scientific
obsession, and--possibly--even murder.
"At one point, Miller dives into the ocean into a school of
fish...comes up for air, and realizes she's in love. That's how I felt:
Her book took me to strange depths I never imagined, and I was
smitten." --The New York Times Book Review
David Starr Jordan was a taxonomist, a man possessed with bringing order
to the natural world. In time, he would be credited with discovering
nearly a fifth of the fish known to humans in his day. But the more of
the hidden blueprint of life he uncovered, the harder the universe
seemed to try to thwart him. His specimen collections were demolished by
lightning, by fire, and eventually by the 1906 San Francisco
earthquake--which sent more than a thousand discoveries, housed in
fragile glass jars, plummeting to the floor. In an instant, his life's
work was shattered.
Many might have given up, given in to despair. But Jordan? He surveyed
the wreckage at his feet, found the first fish that he recognized, and
confidently began to rebuild his collection. And this time, he
introduced one clever innovation that he believed would at last protect
his work against the chaos of the world.
When NPR reporter Lulu Miller first heard this anecdote in passing, she
took Jordan for a fool--a cautionary tale in hubris, or denial. But as
her own life slowly unraveled, she began to wonder about him. Perhaps
instead he was a model for how to go on when all seemed lost. What she
would unearth about his life would transform her understanding of
history, morality, and the world beneath her feet.
Part biography, part memoir, part scientific adventure, Why Fish Don't
Exist is a wondrous fable about how to persevere in a world where chaos
will always prevail.
