AUDIOBOOK
About
A wonderous, eye-opening exploration of the way symbiotic relationships connect all living things.
"Absolutely enthralling. I was hooked from the first sentence." --Bill Bryson, author of A Short History of Nearly Everything and The Body
Everything on Earth hinges on relationships: animals and bacteria, the soil and its microbes, plants and molecules floating in the air. Often, these partnerships are subtle-undetectable by the eye-but life as we know it wouldn't exist without them.
In Togetherness, journalist and evolutionary biologist Rowan Hooper leads us into fascinating, otherworldly spaces-the earth's rich underbrush, murky ocean depths, the human body's complex architecture-to uncover the poetic truth that we are all intimately connected. From moths that rely on sloths for reproduction to orchids' partnerships with fungi to our own relationships with the biosphere, Hooper frames lessons from great thinkers across time-scientists, philosophers, and artists-and emphasizes, with wit and joy, William Blake's claim that "Every thing that lives / Lives not alone." Through page-turning examples, Hooper uses symbiosis to clarify ideas about major scientific topics, including evolution, agriculture, climate change, sustainability, and humanity at large. Now more than ever, symbiosis can help us solve some of the biggest issues of our day.
Dazzling, immensely clever, and suffused with wonder, Togetherness bridges the realms of humanity and nature, and proves symbiosis is a key to understanding ourselves and the world beyond. "Absolutely enthralling. I was hooked from the first sentence."
-Bill Bryson, author of A Short History of Nearly Everything
"I think this may be one of those rare books that's a classic upon its publication. It calmly and comprehensively helps you see the world in a very new and hopeful way, and I think the insights apply to our social and political life. We were, all of us, built for contact."
-Bill McKibben, author of Here Comes the Sun
"[Togetherness] has both scientific chops and beautiful storytelling as it unpacks case after case of symbiosis in the natural world as well as what symbiosis is and does and why it matters. I wish this synthesis of so much knowledge had been available when I wrote my last book, but I'm glad it's available now for me and for anyone who finds joy, meaning, and possibility in our new understandings of nature."
-Rebecca Solnit
"A clarion call for cooperation, at a time when competition, chaos, and cruelty seem to rule the day. In the symbiotic relationships of lichens, orchids and fig wasps, Rowan Hooper provides an antidote for division and distrust. Written by one of our finest science communicators, this is a joyful book, of hope and wonder, which celebrates community as the true key to success in nature."
-Steve Brusatte, University of Edinburgh paleontologist and New York Times bestselling author of The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs
"By weaving scientific evidence with personal experiences from around the world, Rowan Hooper takes us on an awe-inspiring journey that challenges long-held assumptions about individual competition as the single dominant force in nature. Recognizing the interconnectedness among all organisms, including ourselves, is not a question of curiosity but survival. This book should herald the end of individualism: it is an exposé of our unbreakable connections with all life on Earth."
-Alexandre Antonelli, Director of Science at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
"Tremendous-a panorama, or cyclorama, or cosmorama of life."
-Philip Pullman
"Togetherness is the most important book I've read for years. Richly-layered, thrilling, intellectually wide-ranging and so fascinating with evocative imagery and warm prose which brings the science and the world to vivid life and offers a crucial and urgent intervention on our mistaken and inadequate
"Absolutely enthralling. I was hooked from the first sentence." --Bill Bryson, author of A Short History of Nearly Everything and The Body
Everything on Earth hinges on relationships: animals and bacteria, the soil and its microbes, plants and molecules floating in the air. Often, these partnerships are subtle-undetectable by the eye-but life as we know it wouldn't exist without them.
In Togetherness, journalist and evolutionary biologist Rowan Hooper leads us into fascinating, otherworldly spaces-the earth's rich underbrush, murky ocean depths, the human body's complex architecture-to uncover the poetic truth that we are all intimately connected. From moths that rely on sloths for reproduction to orchids' partnerships with fungi to our own relationships with the biosphere, Hooper frames lessons from great thinkers across time-scientists, philosophers, and artists-and emphasizes, with wit and joy, William Blake's claim that "Every thing that lives / Lives not alone." Through page-turning examples, Hooper uses symbiosis to clarify ideas about major scientific topics, including evolution, agriculture, climate change, sustainability, and humanity at large. Now more than ever, symbiosis can help us solve some of the biggest issues of our day.
Dazzling, immensely clever, and suffused with wonder, Togetherness bridges the realms of humanity and nature, and proves symbiosis is a key to understanding ourselves and the world beyond. "Absolutely enthralling. I was hooked from the first sentence."
-Bill Bryson, author of A Short History of Nearly Everything
"I think this may be one of those rare books that's a classic upon its publication. It calmly and comprehensively helps you see the world in a very new and hopeful way, and I think the insights apply to our social and political life. We were, all of us, built for contact."
-Bill McKibben, author of Here Comes the Sun
"[Togetherness] has both scientific chops and beautiful storytelling as it unpacks case after case of symbiosis in the natural world as well as what symbiosis is and does and why it matters. I wish this synthesis of so much knowledge had been available when I wrote my last book, but I'm glad it's available now for me and for anyone who finds joy, meaning, and possibility in our new understandings of nature."
-Rebecca Solnit
"A clarion call for cooperation, at a time when competition, chaos, and cruelty seem to rule the day. In the symbiotic relationships of lichens, orchids and fig wasps, Rowan Hooper provides an antidote for division and distrust. Written by one of our finest science communicators, this is a joyful book, of hope and wonder, which celebrates community as the true key to success in nature."
-Steve Brusatte, University of Edinburgh paleontologist and New York Times bestselling author of The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs
"By weaving scientific evidence with personal experiences from around the world, Rowan Hooper takes us on an awe-inspiring journey that challenges long-held assumptions about individual competition as the single dominant force in nature. Recognizing the interconnectedness among all organisms, including ourselves, is not a question of curiosity but survival. This book should herald the end of individualism: it is an exposé of our unbreakable connections with all life on Earth."
-Alexandre Antonelli, Director of Science at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
"Tremendous-a panorama, or cyclorama, or cosmorama of life."
-Philip Pullman
"Togetherness is the most important book I've read for years. Richly-layered, thrilling, intellectually wide-ranging and so fascinating with evocative imagery and warm prose which brings the science and the world to vivid life and offers a crucial and urgent intervention on our mistaken and inadequate