Why Fish Don't Exist: A Story of Loss, Love and the Hidden Order of Life

(Hardback)

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Description

When Lulu Millers relationship falls apart, she turns to an unlikely figure for guidance - the 19th-century naturalist, David Starr Jordan. Pouring over his diaries, Lulu discovers a man obsessed with natures hidden order, devoted to studying shimmering scales and sailing the world in search of new species of fish.After the 1906 San Francisco earthquake sends more than a thousand of Jordans specimens, housed in glass jars, plummeting to the ground, his story of resilience leads Lulu to believe she has found the antidote to lifes unpredictability. But lurking behind the tale of this great taxonomist lies a darker story waiting to be told: one about the human cost of attempting to define the form of things unknown. An idiosyncratic, personal approach to this fascinating scientific biography, Why Fish Dont Exist is an astonishing tale of newfound love, scientific discovery and how to live well in a world governed by chaos.

Reviews

'I want to live at this books address: the intersection of history and biology and wonder and failure and sheer human stubbornness. What a sumptuous, surprising, dark delight' - Carmen Maria Machado, author of Into the Dream House

'At one point, Miller dives into the ocean into a school of fish . . . comes up for air, and realizes shes in love. Thats how I felt: Her book took me to strange depths I never imagined, and I was smitten' - The New York Times Book Review

'Why Fish Dont Exist is a book about losing love and finding it, a book about how faith sustains us and also how it grows toxic. Its a story told with an open heart, every page of it animated by verve, nuance, and full-throated curiosity' - Leslie Jamison, author of Make It Scream, Make It Burn

'Riveting. Surprising. Shocking, even! . . . Narrated in Lulu Millers intimate, quirky voice, this is a story of science and struggle, of heartbreak and chaos. This book will capture your heart, seize your imagination, smash your preconceptions, and rock your world' - Sy Montgomery, author of The Soul of an Octopus

'Moves gracefully between reporting and meditation, big questions and small moments. A magical hybrid of science, portraiture, and memoir-and a delight to read' - Susan Orlean, author of The Library Book

Author Bio

Lulu Miller is the cohost of Radiolab, host of the kids podcast Terrestrials, and author of the bestselling book Why Fish Dont Exist.