The Third Age of the University: From Interpretation to Generation to Commercialization of Knowledge

Introduction One of the ironies of history is that three major knowledge or ‘epistemological’ revolutions of modern Western Civilization occurred in spite of not because of the University. Thus the Renaissance of the 15th century was the product of Artists & Humanists working outside its walls, not Scholars under its towers. Similarly the Scientific Revolution of the 17th century, or more precisely innovation of the instrumental experimental scientific method, occurred outside not inside its cloistered halls. To add salt to wound, the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century was also an epistemological revolution. It was not, however, a revolution of the mind per se but rather of the doing. 1 It tooled knowledge into matter/energy as function effectively granting humanity dominion over the planet. This ‘applied’ revolution was also initiated by dissenters who could not attend the University.