Togetherness: Symbiosis and the Hidden Story of the World's Greatest Collaborations (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780593802663)

A wondrous, eye-opening exploration of symbiosis in nature--from microscopic cells to the earth's atmosphere--and the ways life is connected, codependent, and poetry in motion.

Everything on earth hinges on relationships: animals and bacteria, the soil and its microbes, plants and the 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.

Author: Rowan Hooper
ISBN-10: 0593802667
ISBN-13: 9780593802663
Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group
Language: English
Published: 08/18/2026
Pages: 400
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.25lbs