Reader's Digestion: "Why Fish Don't Exist"
What I am reading/listening to as a PhD candidate working on the neuromicrobiome.
Every so often, a book comes along that reminds you why you fell in love with science in the first place. Why Fish Don’t Exist by Lulu Miller is one of those books. Part biography, part memoir, part philosophical deep-dive into the very nature of order, this book is a whirlwind of curiosity, chaos, and the pursuit of knowledge. I rated it 5 stars on Goodreads, and here’s why.
Miller weaves the story of David Starr Jordan—a taxonomist who spent his life categorizing fish, only to have his careful work quite literally shaken apart—into a broader reflection on science, human fallibility, and the illusion of control. As scientists, we devote ourselves to uncovering truths, but this book is a humbling reminder that science is as much about uncertainty as it is about discovery. No matter how much we try to impose order on the world, chaos always has the final say.
The beauty of Why Fish Don’t Exist is in its honesty: mistakes will be made, knowledge will shift, and sometimes the things we thought were solid turn out to be illusions. But in the act of questioning, in the messy, relentless pursuit of understanding, we find meaning. Miller captures this beautifully, making the book both a thrilling scientific history and a deeply personal meditation on what it means to search for truth in an unpredictable world.
This was a fun, thoughtful read—one I’ll likely return to. If you’re in the mood for a book that challenges the way you think about science, life, and everything in between, this is a must-read.
Here’s the details:
Page Count: 225 pages
Genre: Nonfiction
How I read it: Paperback
Where I got it: Birthday Gift!
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Happy reading! :)
Mel