Higher Education and the Growth of Knowledge - A Historical Outline of Aims and Tensions

This book sketches the history, from ancient times to the present, of higher education in parallel to the development of science. It explores the historical tensions between the aims of higher education and those of science, arguing that the university, although today the universal home of science, carries traces of different past cultural, social, and didactical traditions that make it not the ideal place for the development of science.

List of contents

Introduction 1. Then and Now 2. The Classical Roots: Farewell to the Socratic Method 3. The Classical Roots: Aristotle and Beyond 4. The Religious Roots: Priests and Rabbis 5. The Religions Roots: Medieval Intermezzo 6. The Birth of the University 7. The Age of Innovation 8. Learning the New Techniques 9. The Advent of Science 10. Science Develops Outside "Academia" 11. The Advent of Modern University. Appendix 1: Galileo and the Medici: Post-Renaissance Patronage or Post-Modern Historiography? Appendix 2: Kuhn, Meritocracy, and Excellence

About the author

Michael Segre is Professor of the History of Science at the Gabriele D'Annunzio University in Chieti. He is the author of numerous books and articles, including In the Wake of Galileo (1991) and Peano's Axioms in their Historical Context (1994).

Product details

• Authors: Michael Segre, Michael (University of Chieti Segre, Segre Michael
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd.
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 11.08.2015
• EAN: 9780415735667
• ISBN: 978-0-415-73566-7
• No. of pages: 238
• Series: Routledge Studies in Cultural History
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History; Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous; HISTORY / General, HISTORY / Social History, Social & cultural history, SCIENCE / Study & Teaching, Historiography, History of Science, Social and cultural history