- Paperback
- Publisher: Canongate (3 Mar 2011)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1847673376
- ISBN-13: 978-1847673374
- Product Dimensions: 23.2 x 15.2 x 3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 714,280 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
SuperCooperators
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Review
'Supercooperators looks beyond The Selfish Gene and invites us to think afresh about evolution. Contrary to the simplistic idea that selfishness is the only strategy for survival, the brilliant Martin Nowak proves that cooperation is also vitally important. This rich and rewarding book teems with new ideas and insights, which co-author Roger Highfield makes wonderfully lucid and entertaining.' --Graham Farmelo, author of THE STRANGEST MAN
'A fantastic journey into the science of cooperation, with important implications for both individuals and society alike.'
--Richard Wiseman, author of 59 SECONDS, QUIRKOLOGY and THE LUCK FACTOR
'Martin Nowak is one of the most creative scientists of our time, and Roger Highfield is a superb science writer. Their insights into the mystery of cooperation will change the way you think about everything. If you're looking for the next Big Idea book, you've just found it.' --Steven Strogatz, Schurman Professor of Applied Mathematics, Cornell University, and New York Times contributor
'Martin Nowak is regarded as the foremost mathematical theorist working in evolutionary biology. His contributions on cooperation and altruism, here augmented by the expertise of Roger Highfield, fall in one of the most important domains of present-day biology.' --Edward O. Wilson, author of CONSILIENCE and Pellegrino University Research Professor, Harvard University
'Roger Highfield deftly weaves together a personal and informative account of the research of Harvard's Martin Nowak to reveal five mechanisms that rule human behaviour. On the way, they explore the origins of life, language, cancer and much more, and highlight how evolution can lead to cooperation as well as competition.' --Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal and recent President of the Royal Society
'A panoramic view of the role of cooperation in the evolution... [A] sweeping survey... Nowak is a mathematical biologist, and his enthusiasm for numbers is extremely useful in his discussions of evolutionary theory. However, thankfully for the mathematically disinclined, there is little hard math here... A fleshed-out, persuasive chronicle of the bright side-collective enterprise-of the evolutionary road.'
--Kirkus Review
`SuperCooperators is part autobiography, part textbook, and reads like a best-selling novel.'
--Manfred Milinski, Nature.
An absorbing, accessible book about the power of mathematics... Nowak is one of the most exciting modelers working in the field of mathematical biology today.
--New York Times Book Review --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
'A fantastic journey into the science of cooperation, with important implications for both individuals and society alike.'
--Richard Wiseman, author of 59 SECONDS, QUIRKOLOGY and THE LUCK FACTOR
'Martin Nowak is one of the most creative scientists of our time, and Roger Highfield is a superb science writer. Their insights into the mystery of cooperation will change the way you think about everything. If you're looking for the next Big Idea book, you've just found it.' --Steven Strogatz, Schurman Professor of Applied Mathematics, Cornell University, and New York Times contributor
'Martin Nowak is regarded as the foremost mathematical theorist working in evolutionary biology. His contributions on cooperation and altruism, here augmented by the expertise of Roger Highfield, fall in one of the most important domains of present-day biology.' --Edward O. Wilson, author of CONSILIENCE and Pellegrino University Research Professor, Harvard University
'Roger Highfield deftly weaves together a personal and informative account of the research of Harvard's Martin Nowak to reveal five mechanisms that rule human behaviour. On the way, they explore the origins of life, language, cancer and much more, and highlight how evolution can lead to cooperation as well as competition.' --Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal and recent President of the Royal Society
'A panoramic view of the role of cooperation in the evolution... [A] sweeping survey... Nowak is a mathematical biologist, and his enthusiasm for numbers is extremely useful in his discussions of evolutionary theory. However, thankfully for the mathematically disinclined, there is little hard math here... A fleshed-out, persuasive chronicle of the bright side-collective enterprise-of the evolutionary road.'
--Kirkus Review
`SuperCooperators is part autobiography, part textbook, and reads like a best-selling novel.'
--Manfred Milinski, Nature.
An absorbing, accessible book about the power of mathematics... Nowak is one of the most exciting modelers working in the field of mathematical biology today.
--New York Times Book Review --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Product Description
EVOLUTION IS OFTEN PRESENTED AS A STRICTLY COMPETITIVE ENDEAVOR. This point of view has had serious implications for the way we see the mechanics of both science and culture. But scientists have long wondered how societies could have evolved without some measure of cooperation. And if there was cooperation involved, how could it have arisen from nature "red in tooth and claw"?
Martin Nowak, one of the world's experts on evolution and game theory, working here with bestselling science writer Roger Highfield, turns an important aspect of evolutionary theory on its head to explain why cooperation, not competition, has always been the key to the evolution of complexity. He offers a new explanation for the origin of life and a new theory for the origins of language, biology's second greatest information revolution after the emergence of genes. "SuperCooperators "also brings to light his game-changing work on disease. Cancer is fundamentally a failure of the body's cells to cooperate, Nowak has discovered, but organs are cleverly designed to foster cooperation, and he explains how this new understanding can be used in novel cancer treatments.
Nowak and Highfield examine the phenomena of reciprocity, reputation, and reward, explaining how selfless behavior arises naturally from competition; how forgiveness, generosity, and kindness have a mathematical rationale; how companies can be better designed to promote cooperation; and how there is remarkable overlap between the recipe for cooperation that arises from quantitative analysis and the codes of conduct seen in major religions, such as the Golden Rule.
In his first book written for a wide audience, this hugely influential scientist explains his cutting-edge research into the mysteries of cooperation, from the rise of multicellular life to Good Samaritans. With wit and clarity, Nowak and Highfield make the case that cooperation, not competition, is the defining human trait. "SuperCooperators "will expand our understanding of evolution and provoke debate for years to come.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
23 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
From Darwin's "The Origin of Species" to Dawkins' "The Selfish Gene" we learn about the ruthless nature of evolutionary pressure by natural selection. Yet observation of both the human and wider natural world demonstrates clearly that altruism is not just practised by well-meaning creatures but the very stuff which oils the machinery. Martin Nowak is a leading proponent of the importance of altruism - "being nice" - in naturual selection and has written a fine book explaining the game theory on which his research is based, the five strategies which emerge from it - direct reciprocity ("I'll help you if you help me"), indirect reciprocity ("if I help you, maybe someone that you know will help me"), spatial selection (where a group of cooperators - neighbours, say - help each other), group selection (where natural selection favours one group over another because it is acting as a group) and kin selection ("I help my relatives") and applications in nature and human society. Nowak's breakthrough in the field lies in modelling these strateigies mathematically - he first came to prominence through describing the infection pattern of HIV, providing an understanding of why it moved rapidly to full-blown AIDS in some people, yet lay apparently dormant for many years in others.
This would have led to a worthy (but difficult) book without Roger Highfield as co-author. Highfield, editor of New Scientist, is surely the finest exponent of the art of taking highly complex scientific subjects and rendering them both understandable and easy to read for the layman (compare his "Frontiers of Complexity" with Roger Penrose's "The Emperor's New Mind" and you will see). The result of this "Super Cooperation" is a highly readable, lucid work which adds considerably to the genreral understanding of this important aspect of evolutionary biology.
This is a fascinating read, although some of the human examples are less compelling than those from other species - there is no mention in the description of all the cooperation that goes to deliver a cup of coffee in a coffee bar that each cooperator is being paid for his efforts, which provides a considerable incentive, yet there is no reason why a vampire bat should regurgitate part of its bloody feed to allow an unsuccessful bat to gain some nutrition outside of the altrustic motives that Nowak describes. Much of the argument has an echo of Kantian logic and it would have been good to see this reflected in the discussion of human behaviour, but these are small gripes in an fascingating and important work.
One final reflection - as the book was being published, Nowak found himself embroiled in an argument over the importance of Inclusive fitness, a concept regarded by many as key to a modern understanding of evolutionary biology, but which Nowak considers irrelevant. Perhaps this goes to show that, for all the altruism which Nowak claims drives natural selection, competition always lies close by!
This would have led to a worthy (but difficult) book without Roger Highfield as co-author. Highfield, editor of New Scientist, is surely the finest exponent of the art of taking highly complex scientific subjects and rendering them both understandable and easy to read for the layman (compare his "Frontiers of Complexity" with Roger Penrose's "The Emperor's New Mind" and you will see). The result of this "Super Cooperation" is a highly readable, lucid work which adds considerably to the genreral understanding of this important aspect of evolutionary biology.
This is a fascinating read, although some of the human examples are less compelling than those from other species - there is no mention in the description of all the cooperation that goes to deliver a cup of coffee in a coffee bar that each cooperator is being paid for his efforts, which provides a considerable incentive, yet there is no reason why a vampire bat should regurgitate part of its bloody feed to allow an unsuccessful bat to gain some nutrition outside of the altrustic motives that Nowak describes. Much of the argument has an echo of Kantian logic and it would have been good to see this reflected in the discussion of human behaviour, but these are small gripes in an fascingating and important work.
One final reflection - as the book was being published, Nowak found himself embroiled in an argument over the importance of Inclusive fitness, a concept regarded by many as key to a modern understanding of evolutionary biology, but which Nowak considers irrelevant. Perhaps this goes to show that, for all the altruism which Nowak claims drives natural selection, competition always lies close by!
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
While this book does introduce the ideas that Nowak has been exploring throughout his academic life, it is light on detail. Whereas the selfish gene was dense with ideas and conclusions, this book spends more time talking about all the amazing scientists Nowak has worked with/inspired/been inspired by, along with nice descriptions about the Austrian alps.
It seems he was told to include lots of human anecdotes to keep his audience engaged, and to shy away from any maths/detailed explanation. What a shame, because the ideas are intriguing. (Oh, and I hate the references - stuffed together in the bibliography but with no 'reference' to them from within the chapter itself - after being frustrated by the paucity of detail about the subject, a nice link to more information would have been greatly appreciated)
All in all a good entrée, but certainly not the whole meal.
(BTW the reviewers who talk about 'selfishness not being to anybody's advantage' are plain wrong. The whole point of the Prisoner's Dilemma is that it pays to be selfish - the whole point of Nowak's research is to define under what circumstances cooperation can succeed in spite of this. Also, he regularly mentions the wave of selfishness/cooperation that ebbs and flows through his simulations - it is not static!)
It seems he was told to include lots of human anecdotes to keep his audience engaged, and to shy away from any maths/detailed explanation. What a shame, because the ideas are intriguing. (Oh, and I hate the references - stuffed together in the bibliography but with no 'reference' to them from within the chapter itself - after being frustrated by the paucity of detail about the subject, a nice link to more information would have been greatly appreciated)
All in all a good entrée, but certainly not the whole meal.
(BTW the reviewers who talk about 'selfishness not being to anybody's advantage' are plain wrong. The whole point of the Prisoner's Dilemma is that it pays to be selfish - the whole point of Nowak's research is to define under what circumstances cooperation can succeed in spite of this. Also, he regularly mentions the wave of selfishness/cooperation that ebbs and flows through his simulations - it is not static!)
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I've read the book and believe this is a major contribution not just to evolutionary theory, your own social and work life, but also modern day politics. Novak and Highfield make a sobering and essential point towards the end; our ability to avoid species extinction - eg by global warming - relies on our ability to engender cooperation across the whole planet.
It's this essential challenge which the historical darwinian notion of 'survival of the fittest' is ill-equipped to solve. No one struggling to assist with political change can afford not to be aware of the book's central contentions. No one struggling with a difficult boss at work or exasperating relationship, will succeed unless they are using (even inadvertently) a strategy borrowed from some part of Novak's research.
There are very few novel concepts in biology that reach across to the social sciences, without falling into the trap of easy determinism. This account of game theory and strategy succeeds. Even if you don't agree with the conclusions, there are few better rigorous introductions to the notion of strategising across species, as well as human affairs.
It's this essential challenge which the historical darwinian notion of 'survival of the fittest' is ill-equipped to solve. No one struggling to assist with political change can afford not to be aware of the book's central contentions. No one struggling with a difficult boss at work or exasperating relationship, will succeed unless they are using (even inadvertently) a strategy borrowed from some part of Novak's research.
There are very few novel concepts in biology that reach across to the social sciences, without falling into the trap of easy determinism. This account of game theory and strategy succeeds. Even if you don't agree with the conclusions, there are few better rigorous introductions to the notion of strategising across species, as well as human affairs.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Slightly disappointing
After reading the articles in Daily Telegraph I was disappointed. The book is very repetitive. Much of it is autobiographical and rather self-congratulatory! Read more
Published 7 months ago by John Stephen
Full of different insights for different readers
I found this book amazing. The author, with a very clear perspective and ease of explanation, tells about why competitive entities should cooperate instead. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Elio Mattia
Excellent, but hard work
I started not really believing that you can apply maths to evolution and altruism, but I'm now totally convinced.
This is truly outstanding research and I'm glad I read it. Read more
This is truly outstanding research and I'm glad I read it. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Ian Smith
A bit over-egged?
I bought this after reading David Willets' (UK Minister for Universities and Science) review in the FT in May 2011. Read more
Published 12 months ago by M. Dalgleish
co op rules.
Marvellous look at co operation and its importance for humans as the ultimate co operaters.Selfishness is self defeating in the long run and not to any bodies advantage. Read more
Published 14 months ago by bucky
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