In a book certain to change our thinking and our actions, science writer Stefan Klein argues that selfishness is self-defeating and proves the evolutionary advantages of altruism.

"The future belongs to the altruists,” Stefan Klein proclaims in this wide-ranging and often surprising exploration of why generosity, and not selfishness, is the means to achieving lasting personal and societal success. A highly readable synthesis of an extraordinary array of material—including current brain research and genetics, economics and social psychology, behavioral and anthropological experiments, history and contemporary culture—Survival of the Nicest clearly establishes just how evolution has hard-wired us to act for one another’s benefit. At once serious, entertaining, and grounded in the most up-to-date science, Klein’s book helps us to clearly understand how and why caring for and about others protects us from loneliness and depression; makes us happier, healthier, and more successful; and can even extend our lives.