Togetherness by Rowan Hooper

An awe-inspiring exploration of how symbiosis can change the way we understand our world, ourselves and our future

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 are 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.

About the Author: 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.

04 Jun 2026
 

Togetherness: Symbiosis and the Hidden Story of Life’s Greatest Collaborations by Rowan Hooper ISBN 9781911717157