Systems beat anecdotes—until they don’t.
Linnaeus’s binomial nomenclature promised order but sometimes erased ecological nuance.
Book summary
Foundational TextAward-Winner / Critically Acclaimed
Every Living Thing
by Jason Roberts
The great and deadly race to know all life on Earth
Linnaeus and Buffon race to catalog life—and reshape science
Published 2024
Topics
History of ScienceNatural HistoryExplorationBiodiversity
Reading companion
How to read Every Living Thing with Readever
Read this as a dual biography tracking both Linnaeus and Buffon's competing approaches to science. Use Readever to highlight the tension between systematic classification and ecological understanding, and note how their rivalry shaped modern science. The AI insights will help you connect historical debates to contemporary issues in biodiversity and conservation.
Things to know before reading
- Familiarize yourself with basic concepts of taxonomy and binomial nomenclature
- Note the 18th-century scientific context and the role of European exploration
- Be prepared for detailed descriptions of scientific methods and colonial impacts
Brief summary
Every Living Thing in a nutshell
Roberts stages an 18th-century rivalry between Carl Linnaeus, the Swedish classifier who imposed Latin binomials on the natural world, and Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, the French aristocrat who saw nature as fluid, sensual, and tied to empire. Expeditions haul back specimens, scientific salons buzz, and the quest to name “every living thing” collides with colonialism, corporate monopolies, and the limits of observation.
Key ideas overview
Every Living Thing summary of 3 key ideas
Each act of classification is also an act of power.
Exploration is extractive labor.
The race relied on enslaved guides, Indigenous interpreters, and sailors risking disease.
Naming shapes policy.
Species logged by Linnaeus and Buffon still anchor conservation law and pharma patents.
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Trace today’s biodiversity science back to its messy origins.
By dramatizing taxonomy as a high-stakes race, the book makes it easier to explain why naming species still matters for climate metrics, pharmaceuticals, and conservation funding. It also warns how extractive exploration shaped museums and data sets that modern scientists must decolonize.
Deep dive
Key ideas in Every Living Thing
Key idea 1
Systems beat anecdotes—until they don’t.
Linnaeus’s binomial nomenclature promised order but sometimes erased ecological nuance.
Roberts walks through the Systema Naturae editions, showing how a tidy table could overshadow indigenous knowledge about habitats or medicinal uses. Buffon pushed back with lavish narrative volumes that emphasized variability and climate. Their debate foreshadows today’s tension between databases and contextual storytelling.
Remember
- Frameworks are only as just as the assumptions baked into them.
- Pair classification with local expertise to avoid biological blind spots.
Key idea 2
Exploration is extractive labor.
The race relied on enslaved guides, Indigenous interpreters, and sailors risking disease.
The book restores these supporting characters—Afro-Caribbean plant hunters, Sámi reindeer drivers, French sailors crossing lethal seas—showing how their contributions fueled European prestige yet seldom won credit or safety.
Remember
- Name the human cost of scientific glory.
- Modern fieldwork should share benefits with source communities.
Key idea 3
Naming shapes policy.
Species logged by Linnaeus and Buffon still anchor conservation law and pharma patents.
Roberts connects historical expeditions to present-day disputes over seed vaults, genetic data sovereignty, and pandemic preparedness, arguing that the first taxonomy arms race set expectations for today’s open science fights.
Remember
- Metadata decisions can ripple for centuries.
- Biodiversity work must now center reciprocity, not just discovery.
Who should read Every Living Thing?
Scientists and science communicators explaining why taxonomy matters.
Museum curators updating exhibits with postcolonial context.
Readers of adventure nonfiction who enjoy narrative history.
About the author
Jason Roberts is the bestselling author of A Sense of the World and a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. He specializes in narrative history that blends archival sleuthing with cinematic storytelling.
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