Uniti per la vita. Storie di simbiosi e cooperazione

In nature, symbiosis and cooperation are the rule, not the exception. No individual truly lives alone: every species is intertwined with others, every individual interacts with its peers, and all are part of a community in constant exchange. Symbiosis between different species and cooperation between individuals of the same species have shaped the history of life on Earth. In many ways, these relationships are inevitable for all organisms in every corner of the natural world. Long considered expressions of visionary minds and explained to the public only superficially, they are in fact one of the driving forces of evolution. In this book, two of Italy’s most authoritative and brilliant scientists and philosophers of science tell us the adventurous story of this discovery: from the brilliant insights of the unsettling Constantin Merejkovski in early 20th-century Russia to the revolutionary determination of Lynn Margulis, the “spokesperson” for the microcosm who changed our view of evolution forever in the 1970s. And then there are Pëtr Kropotkin, George Price and other figures who intuited the role of cooperation in nature. These unions for life, suspended between conflict and collaboration, also make us reflect on the complexities of human relationships. The result is an exciting story, where biology, ethics and philosophy come together to reveal that evolution has never been a solo performance, but a symphony of coexistence.