For too long, scientists have focused on the dark side of our biological heritage, suggests Nicholas Christakis, who points out that natural selection has given us our capacity for love, friendship, cooperation, and learning. Christakis introduces the compelling idea that our genes affect not only our bodies and behaviors, but also the ways in which we make societies, ones that are surprisingly similar worldwide. Citing some surprising examples, this book offers portraits of communities formed in the wake of shipwrecks, commune dwellers seeking utopia, online groups involving artificially intelligent bots, and even the tender and complex social arrangements of elephants and dolphins that so resemble our own.