Lessons from nature: intersection of scientific inquiry and emotional wonder

Nature is an invisible yet all-pervading force. It has been working silently for millions of years, conceiving technological solutions and developing patents whose significance humans are only now beginning to understand.

Much of our invention has ingenious forerunners in the biosphere: plant chemistry, animal engineering, invisible capabilities hidden in genes and fossils.

Learning about nature means reading the big book of the past and, at the same time, getting a glimpse of the future. Our surroundings, often unnoticed, hide living prototypes, innovative materials, and surprising ideas that nature creates in a completely sustainable and eco-friendly way.

Preserving nature means safeguarding a treasure trove of knowledge that we have only just begun to discover.

The invisible natural world is not absence; it is wealth: a heritage to be explored and admired, in order to build a better future.

Giorgio Volpi, born in Cuneo in 1983, has got a degree in Chemistry at the University of Turin, where he obtained a PhD in Chemical Sciences in 2010. He is currently a contract lecturer and scientific technician at the Department of Chemistry, where he carries out research in the field of luminescence. In 2023, he obtained his degree in Natural Sciences.

With the book La natura lo fa meglio (e prima), in English Nature does it better (and faster), published in 2024 for Aboca Edizioni, a thorough exploration of the interconnection between human technology and the surprising abilities of nature, he won him the Green Book award.

His second book, also published by Aboca, will be released in May 2026.

He collaborates with cultural institutions such as Scuola Holden and publications including Sotto il Vulcano and Il Tascabile, Lucy online, as well as a number of international scientific journals.