The Neighborhood Project Using Evolution to Improve My City, One Block at a Time

by Wilson, David Sloan

• ISBN13: 9780316037679
• ISBN10: 0316037672
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-08-24
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Summary

After decades of studying animals in their habitats, evolutionary biologist David Sloan Wilson had a radical idea-apply evolutionary science to the study of a city. Cities are like organisms, so why not study them as such? Inspired to become an agent of change in his post-industrial hometown, Wilson descended on its neighborhoods with a scientist's eye. What does bullying feed on? How can we give kids the best start in life? Is spirituality expanding into new areas, or shrinking? How does neighborhood quality affect test scores? After learning how these traits "live" throughout a city, how can we improve the lives of its citizens? Populated with original research and the latest science, and written in an appealing, personal narrative, THE NEIGHBORHOOD PROJECT is a significant book that strives to define how places define us.

Author Biography

David Sloan Wilson is a SUNY Distinguished Professor of Biology and Anthropology at Binghamton University. He is widely known for his fundamental contributions to evolutionary science and for explaining evolution to the general public. His books include Evolution for Everyone: How Darwin's Theory Can Change the Way We Think About Our Lives, Darwin's Cathedral: Evolution, Religion, and the Nature of Society, and Unto Others: The Evolution and Psychology of Unselfish Behavior (with Elliott Sober).

In addition to his own research, Wilson manages programs that expand the scope of evolutionary science in higher education, public policy, community-based research, and the study of religion.

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Listener	p. 3
Evolution, Cities, and the World	p. 9
My City	p. 27
The Parable of the Strider	p. 40
The Parable of the Wasp	p. 59
The Maps	p. 80
Quantifying Halloween	p. 92
We Are Now Entering the Noosphere	p. 102
The Parable of the Immune System	p. 125
The Reflection	p. 139
Street-Smart	p. 163
The Humanist and the Ceo	p. 181
The Lost Island of Prevention Science	p. 192
The Lecture That Failed	p. 216
Learning from Mother Nature about Teaching Our Children	p. 229
The World with Us	p. 253
The Parable of the Crow	p. 272
Our Lives, Our Genes	p. 289
The Natural History of the Afterlife	p. 305
Evonomics	p. 332
Body and Soul	p. 353
City on a Hill	p. 379
Acknowledgments	p. 391
Notes	p. 393
References	p. 405
Index	p. 421
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