Togetherness by Rowan Hooper — a portrait of cooperation in nature

When Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species in 1859, his account of nature fit a world shaped by the Industrial Revolution, British colonialism and rigid social hierarchies. Rowan Hooper, who admires Darwin and visits his Kent home with evident reverence, argues that Darwinism and the later “modern synthesis” have leaned too heavily on competition.

Togetherness sets out to correct that tilt, offering a richly informed, charming and passionate case for the centrality of cooperation and collaboration in evolution. Hooper illustrates his point with many striking examples. Lichens are partnerships of fungi and algae (sometimes joined by cyanobacteria or yeast) that enable life in environments from rainforests to tundra; corals are colonies of animals and photosynthetic algae; most land plants rely on mycorrhizal fungi to access nitrogen and phosphorus; and orchids connect seedlings to adult plants through underground fungal networks.

United Kingdom, Kent

charles darwin, rowan hooper, darwinism, modern synthesis, cooperation, collaboration, lichen, mycorrhizal fungi, coral, fungal networks