You and Betty and the Nancy's and Bill's and Joes and Jane's will find in the study of science

a richer, more rewarding life.

I'm Andrea Viscontas. Welcome to Inquiring Minds.

This is a podcast that explores the space where science and society collide.

We want to find out what's true, what's left to discover,

and why it matters. When someone tells me a story about a person who made an incredible

contribution to science, and that includes all kinds of unexpected twists and turns.

They really capture my attention.

Lulu Miller is a science reporter who's won a Peabody,

and she's a frequent contributor to Radio Lab, among other places.

She's a co-founder of NPR's Invisibilia, a show about the

invisible forces that shape human behavior. So it shouldn't be surprising that she was the one who

uncovered all of the backstory about this one person that I'd never heard of, David Starr Jordan.

Apparently, in his day, he had actually discovered nearly a fifth of all the fish

known to humans. And then the 1906 earthquake trashed his entire collection, but that didn't stop him

from continuing his work. Lulu Miller's book, Why Fish Don't Exist, is a story of loss, love, and the hidden

order of life. It's part memoir, part biography, but really also a philosophical take on

taxonomy in general and how we catalog all the living things with which we share this earth.

Lulu Miller, welcome to Inquiring Minds.

Hello, thank you so much for having me.

Your book is such a delight.

I have to say, there have been a number of times when I've lost track of time while reading it,

...