Why Fish Don’t Exist

Lulu Miller authored Why Fish Don’t Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life. This 2020 publication explores the life of David Starr Jordan (1851–1931), a scientist devoted to fish collection. Miller notes that Charles Darwin published The Origin of Species during Jordan's childhood, challenging the notion of a divine design, which Jordan embraced in favor of evolution over creationism.

On April 18, 1906, an earthquake struck San Francisco, devastating the location where Jordan kept his preserved specimens. Miller vividly describes the loss: “Imagine seeing thirty years of your life undone in one instant. All the progress you’ve made, now reduced to an indistinguishable heap.” Hundreds of species lay scattered, their identity labels lost, returning them to obscurity.

Despite acknowledging evolution, Jordan clung to the belief in a "hierarchy of perfection." He thought there was a way to assess which variations of a species were superior. Jordan managed to hold these opposing beliefs simultaneously, as this notion offered him a sense of significance in an uncertain world.

He even promoted mandatory eugenics in the United States, driven by his need for order. “To let go... would have been to invite a return to vertigo,” he believed.

Miller insists, however, that Darwin was attempting to convey a crucial message: “There is no ladder.” While we perceive steps or classifications, they are merely illusions. By relinquishing our “faith in a ladder,” we can recognize the randomness and unclassifiable nature that characterizes life’s diversity.

The Bathysphere Book

Brad Fox's The Bathysphere Book: Effects of the Luminous Ocean Depths presents another elusive classification. This 2023 work invites readers into the depths of the ocean.

In 1930, off the coast of Nonsuch Island in the Bermuda Archipelago, marine biologist Gloria Hollister (1900–1988) lowered a cable attached to a steel sphere containing William Beebe (1877–1962) and Otis Barton (1899–1992). Together, they descended 1,300 feet underwater.

Beebe, an ornithologist, realized that merely counting birds misses the essence of their existence; what matters is understanding their connections. He encouraged looking with an “oblique glance,” as true insights often emerge from the periphery. When immersed in research, one can discover that darkness has color and that water is not inherently wet. Observing bioluminescent creatures requires a sideways glance to truly see them.

Despite Beebe's nuanced view, he was friends with Madison Grant (1865–1937), author of The Passing of the Great Race, a work that received praise from Hitler.

The Other Olympians

Michael Waters's upcoming The Other Olympians: Fascism, Queerness, and the Making of Modern Sports is set to be released soon.

Avery Brundage (1887–1975), raised in a working-class American family, became a civil engineer and a national track-and-field champion by 1911. He believed that the purest competitions occurred when athletes did not profit from their talents, thus supporting the Olympics' commitment to amateurism. Brundage often downplayed his own privileged background and its impact on his achievements.

In the early 1930s, Brundage dismissed Alice Milliat’s advocacy for women in sports leadership as a “nuisance,” suggesting that ancient Greeks might have been right in excluding women from athletics altogether. Alongside Johannes Sigfrid Edström, he aimed to seize control of Milliat’s organization, the Fédération Sportive Féminine Internationale (FSFI), which oversaw the Women’s World Games (1922–1934), attempting to suppress her influence and maintain the Olympics' dominance.

Waters notes that those who resisted Milliat’s efforts swiftly litigated which women could participate in sports. This behavior reveals how those in power often construct definitions that exclude others. The assertion of “types of people” becomes a convenient justification for maintaining control.

Brundage’s true motivations appeared rooted in his disdain for female bodies he perceived as masculine and a desire to prevent women from challenging male authority. He had previously suggested eliminating women’s sports altogether, ultimately opting to impose rigid standards of femininity in the Olympics, where intersex and trans individuals became collateral damage.

If Brundage and his allies encountered a female athlete who did not conform to their expectations, they would accuse her of being male. Their lack of a clear definition of femininity or masculinity left the concept of valid participation ambiguous. This interrogation of femaleness was, at its core, a struggle for power.

Classify, Unclassify, Declassify

Did I mention that I categorize these three works together? Perhaps I should say that I unclassify them, as they encourage us to interrogate categories.

In fact, I believe I declassify them by sharing them with you:

• Lulu Miller, Why Fish Don’t Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life. Simon & Schuster, 2020.
• Brad Fox, The Bathysphere Book: Effects of the Luminous Ocean Depths. Astra House, 2023.
• Michael Waters, The Other Olympians: Fascism, Queerness, and the Making of Modern Sports. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2024.

I received advance copies of the second and third titles from NetGalley. The Bookshop links are my affiliate links.