THE CLOVEN HUMANITY -TO ITALO CALVINO WITH GRATITUDE

COVID-19 has turned the world upside down. The signs of an ongoing imbalance were all present; biological: declining biodiversity and a warming climate, and social: migra- tions, the growing distance between the welfare of democratic=rich and dictatorial=poor countries. It is necessary to continue gaining inspiration in Science. Admitting that: 1) The future proceeds by adapting the resources and knowledge of the past. As modern creatures, humans have a somewhat predictable future (tied to recently established condi- tions); 2) Evolution, Darwin’s discovery, occurs between small ecosystems content in largers’, all depending on the movement of a mostly unknown universe; 3) Even serving people are dangerous; 4) We can try to get out of this crisis following a romance, rediscovering the generative power of the soil. From Soil Ecology lessons, addressed to the students of the Universities of Padua (Italy) and Paris (France), during the COVID-19 period (April 2020).