Publisher’s write-up:
‘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 this 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 of his discoveries, house 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 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 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 reads like a fable about how to persevere in a world where chaos
will always prevail.’
Why Fish Don’t Exist; as mentioned
above in one of the longest write-ups I have read for such a small book, is a
book from the NPR reporter Lulu Miller on David Starr Jordan, a taxonomist who
was also the first Chancellor of the Stanford University in California, US.
The book starts by simultaneously
describing her own personal crisis and then introducing David Starr Jordan, a
man born during the mid-19th century in the state of New York, who was highly interesting in
observing an understanding nature during his childhood. Considering the author’s
personal crisis, she wanted to seek inspiration from the life of David Starr
Jordan, whom despite his circumstances, had immense levels of confidence and on
the face of any crisis, looked for a solution to make the solution better.
However, the more she learned about him, the more she learned of a dark side to
his personality and the consequences of his actions.
I was initially apprehensive about the book
considering I had heard of David Jordan, who was the first Chancellor of Stanford
University and also an early proponent of eugenics. However, these fears
did not last long as the writer explored all sides to him and it did not lead
to unnecessary levels of glorification and in fact, quite the opposite.
The book did seem directionless in the initial phases
and left me confused if the objective was to talk about herself or if this was
a biography of David Starr Jordan. Portraying him as someone beating the odds
did not sit well with me considering he seemed very successful at quite a young
age. But as it went, I enjoyed reading the book, especially the latter half,
where we learn a lot of dark aspects which most are unaware of – like the forced
sterilisation programmes that were carried out in the United States inspired by
scientists like Jordan.
The author also brought about her disillusionment
over David Jordan very well, considering his work often involved exploiting the
locals in Japan or Polynesia without giving them credit for the ‘discovery’ of
the fish, a murder allegation against him, etc.
The ending justified the title and was also
powerful as the author figures her own way to deal with her personal crisis.
And I need to mention here that I loved the illustrations by Kate Samworth at
the beginning of every chapter.
On that note, I would say that the book was an
enjoyable read – has a beautiful cover and good illustrations, to add to the
reading experience. Would recommend it as a light read (which deals with a lot
of heavy topics) and on that note, I would award the book a rating of seven on
ten.
Rating –
7/10
Have a
nice day,
Andy
