Description

A Best Book of 2020: The Washington Post, NPR, Chicago Tribune, Smithsonian

Described as “remarkable” by the Los Angeles Times and “seductive” by The Wall Street Journal, Why Fish Don’t Exist is a captivating debut by Lulu Miller, now a cohost of Radiolab. This dark and astonishing book weaves together themes of love, chaos, scientific obsession, and even the possibility of murder.

David Starr Jordan was a taxonomist, determined to bring structure to the natural world. Over his lifetime, he discovered nearly one-fifth of all known fish species. But as he worked to uncover life’s hidden patterns, the universe seemed intent on undoing his efforts. His collections were destroyed by lightning, fire, and finally, the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Thousands of carefully preserved specimens, housed in delicate glass jars, crashed to the ground in an instant, shattering years of work.

Many would have succumbed to despair, but not Jordan. He examined the devastation, picked up the first fish he recognized, and began rebuilding his collection. This time, he introduced an innovation that he believed would finally protect his work from the forces of chaos.

When NPR reporter Lulu Miller first heard this story, she saw Jordan as a cautionary tale—a man blind to the reality of unpredictability. Yet as her own life began to unravel, she started questioning her initial judgment. Could Jordan’s relentless pursuit offer a blueprint for survival when all seems lost? What Miller ultimately uncovered about his life reshaped her understanding of history, morality, and the very world beneath her feet.

Blending biography, memoir, and scientific exploration, Why Fish Don’t Exist is a spellbinding tale of resilience in a universe governed by disorder.