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

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

by David Sloan Wilson (Author)

  • Used

    Hardcover 2011

    $16.29
Synopsis

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.

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More Information

Format: Hardcover
 Pages: 448
 Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Published: 24 Aug 2011
ISBN 10: 0316037672
ISBN 13: 9780316037679
Book Overview: A top evolutionist uses his science to address the challenges of a typical American city.

Media Reviews
WINNER OF THE 2012 BOOKS FOR A BETTER LIFE GREEN AWARD
Imagine combining a moving autobiography, dozens of moving mini-biographies, accidental and intentional experiments in raising and educating children and planning cities, and explanations of what biology and religion are really about. Out of that mix comes this unique, beautifully written, wide-ranging book that will delight a universe of readers. Jared Diamond, Professor of Geography at UCLA, and Pulitzer-prize-winning author of books including Guns, Germs, and Steel and Collapse
The Neighborhood Project, an organization Wilson founded to rejuvenate his hometown of Binghamton, NY...uses evolutionary theories to analyze behavioral data and improve quality of life...pleasurable...provide[s]...evidence for how lives, like ideas, intersect in fascinating ways. Publisher's Weekly
An evolutionary biologist applies his science to making the city of Binghamton, NY a better place to live, and in the telling, illuminates evolution and spells out his efforts to increase understanding of it....The side trips are...pleasurable, informative, and worthwhile. Booklist
Once again David Sloan Wilson reminds us that wherever we look, whether deep in a forest, in our backyards, or in urban classrooms, evolutionary processes -- biological, psychological, or cultural-are at work and understanding these processes can not only deepen our sense of place but also improve the way we lead our lives. Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, author of Mother Nature and Mothers and Others: The evolutionary origins of mutual understanding
The city reflects the nature of the human species in the same way that the hive reflects the nature of bees. In his usual engaging style, David Sloan Wilson uses the prism of evolution to explain our role in and control over these larger organisms of our own making. Frans de Waal, author of Our Inner Ape and The Age of Empathy
Just as Charles Darwin had his finches and Jane Goodall her chimps, evolutionary biologist David Sloan Wilson has his city as a subject of study in what has to be one of the most unique projects ever undertaken in the history of science. Through the lens of evolutionary theory we see not just Wilson's city of Binghamton, New York in a new light, we view all of humanity and civilization from a perspective unique in the annals of research, and written in an engaging style that carries the reader from one chapter to the next. A compelling read. An important book. Michael Shermer is the publisher of Skeptic magazine, a monthly columnist for Scientific American, an adjunct professor at Claremont Graduate University, and the author of Why Darwin Matters and The Mind of the Market
Author Bio
David Sloan Wilson has been a professor of evolutionary biology at Binghamton University for more than twenty years. He has written three academic books on evolution, authored hundreds of papers, some with E.O. Wilson, and his first book for a general audience was Evolution for Everyone: How Darwin's Theory Can Change the Way We Think.