While I was writing this book, the world changed. It took a break and quietly turned back a few rounds. Centuries-old anti-Semitic conspiracies were revived by self-proclaimed Querdenker, or “lateral thinkers”, and old hatreds re-fuelled. At first, it seemed like the world was moving closer together in the face of its mutual threat, because suddenly everyone had the same problems (and no solution). Poor countries and rich, north, south, east and west. The whole world was in lockdown. But very soon the differences became apparent. How well or how badly a country coped with the pandemic said a lot about its structures and opportunities, and about the distribution of resources. How scientific knowledge was accepted or denied said a lot about the nature of humans.

The corona pandemic has lasted longer than most of us could have imagined in spring 2020. Because we lacked the experience of what an aggressive virus can do in a globally networked world. When I wrote the prologue, schools and theatres had just closed for a few weeks, and it felt like a long time. Naively, I (and quite a few others I spoke to) expected that after these weeks we would be able...