Togetherness
Symbiosis and the Hidden Story of Life's Greatest Collaborations
Published on 4. June 2026
416 pages
978-1-5299-2494-7 (ISBN)
Description
An awe-inspiring exploration of how symbiosis can change the way we understand our world, ourselves and our future
'Absolutely enthralling' BILL BRYSON
'Pure magic' CAITLIN MORAN
'The revelations in this book made me rethink the world' CHRIS PACKHAM
From evolution to capitalism, 'survival of the fittest' has shaped our view of the world. But we got it wrong - and our mistake has brought us to the brink.
For the history of life on Earth is much more than a story of competition. The natural world has been forged and sustained by small miracles of co-operation between animals and plants, insects and fungi, fish and bacteria - these partnerships are ubiquitous, lifelong and an essential guide for a better future.
In Togetherness, Rowan Hooper reveals the intimate connectedness of nature through these remarkable stories of symbiosis. From the female wasp venturing deep inside a fig and the intricate relationship between corals and the algae that sustain them to the symbiotic gut microbes that influence our moods, he explores how co-operation is fundamental to life itself and to protecting our shared future.
Togetherness will change the way you see the world, our place in it and our obligation to its hidden wonders.
'Absolutely enthralling' BILL BRYSON
'Pure magic' CAITLIN MORAN
'The revelations in this book made me rethink the world' CHRIS PACKHAM
From evolution to capitalism, 'survival of the fittest' has shaped our view of the world. But we got it wrong - and our mistake has brought us to the brink.
For the history of life on Earth is much more than a story of competition. The natural world has been forged and sustained by small miracles of co-operation between animals and plants, insects and fungi, fish and bacteria - these partnerships are ubiquitous, lifelong and an essential guide for a better future.
In Togetherness, Rowan Hooper reveals the intimate connectedness of nature through these remarkable stories of symbiosis. From the female wasp venturing deep inside a fig and the intricate relationship between corals and the algae that sustain them to the symbiotic gut microbes that influence our moods, he explores how co-operation is fundamental to life itself and to protecting our shared future.
Togetherness will change the way you see the world, our place in it and our obligation to its hidden wonders.
Reviews / Votes
Absolutely enthralling. I was hooked from the first sentence -- Bill Bryson Pure magic -- Caitlin Moran Tremendous - a panorama, or cyclorama, or cosmorama of life -- Philip Pullman This book reshapes our ideas about science, nature and ourselves. The revelations in this book made me rethink the world' -- Chris Packham Hooper challenges the idea that life is driven chiefly by competition, showing instead how deeply nature depends on co-operation. From figs and wasps to coral and gut microbes, this is an eye-opening account of symbiosis and survival * i Paper * A clarion call for cooperation at a time when competition, chaos and cruelty seem to rule the day . . . This is a joyful book, of hope and wonder, which celebrates community as the true key to success in nature -- Steve Brusatte 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 understanding of life and its entangled, enmeshed, webby, netty, symbiotic togetherness . . . Utterly stunning and awe-inspiring. Everyone needs to read this book, now! -- Lucy Jones 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 This book has both scientific chops and beautiful storytelling -- Rebecca Solnit An awe-inspiring journey . . . An expose of our unbreakable connections with all life on Earth -- Alex AntonelliMore details
Edition
New edition
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Vintage Publishing
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Edition type
New edition
File size
0,98 MB
ISBN-13
978-1-5299-2494-7 (9781529924947)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
approx. 06/2026
Fern Press
€22.50
Not yet published
Book
06/2026
Fern Press
€31.50
Shipment within 3-4 weeks
Person
Rowan Hooper is podcast editor at New Scientist and host of the New Scientist Weekly podcast. He has been at New Scientist for over 15 years, covering all aspects of science. He has a PhD in evolutionary biology and worked in a conservation biology lab in Japan for five years, before joining the Japan Times in Tokyo and later taking up a fellowship in a physics lab at Trinity College Dublin. His work has also appeared in the Economist, the Guardian, Wired, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post.
