Winner of the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Biography
Winner of the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award
A Globe and Mail, Economist, Financial Times, and Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year
An epic, extraordinary account of scientific rivalry and obsession in the quest to survey all of life on Earth—a competition "with continued repercussions for Western views of race. [This] vivid double biography is a passionate corrective." —The New York Times Book Review, Editors' Choice
In the eighteenth century, two men—exact contemporaries and polar opposites—dedicated their lives to the same daunting task: identifying and describing all life on Earth. Carl Linnaeus, a pious Swedish doctor with a huckster's flair, believed that life belonged in tidy, static categories. Georges-Louis de Buffon, an aristocratic polymath and keeper of France's royal garden, viewed life as a dynamic swirl of complexities. Each began his task believing it to be difficult but not impossible: How could the planet possibly hold more than a few thousand species—or as many could fit on Noah’s Ark?
Both fell far short of their goal, but in the process they articulated starkly divergent views on nature, the future of the Earth, and humanity itself. Linnaeus gave the world such concepts as mammal, primate and Homo sapiens, but he also denied that species change and he promulgated racist pseudoscience. Buffon formulated early prototypes of evolution and genetics, warned of global climate change and argued passionately against prejudice. The clash of their conflicting worldviews continued well after their deaths, as their successors contended for dominance in the emerging science that came to be called biology.
In Every Living Thing, Jason Roberts weaves a sweeping, unforgettable narrative spell, exploring the intertwined lives and legacies of Linnaeus and Buffon—as well as the groundbreaking, often fatal adventures of their acolytes—to trace an arc of insight and discovery that extends across three centuries into the present day.
Character Foils from History for Bio Nerds
"This book begins with an interesting study comparing the two main subjects of our book. One a serious, well respected science minded person with a very quiet reputation. While the other is a boisterous, colourful personality. Both from different worlds. And somehow tied together by the same common interest. Categorizing every living thing. I found myself taking notes as I read it. As it feels like something you need to take your time with and absorb. There are a lot of different historical notes to keep track of if the topic is completely new to you. But I enjoyed it! Very educational and a unique way to document the lives of historical figures—in comparison to each other. Just not a fast or casual read for me. You really need to have time set aside for this because it is a bit dense."
