Apples and oranges

In the feature “The Francis Crick Institute: science and serendipity” (26 November 2015), Sir John Savill says that the failure of The Francis Crick Institute would be “unconscionable”, in the same way that the failure of the University of Edinburgh would be “unconscionable”.

I think we can all agree that the failure of the University of Edinburgh is unthinkable – after all, it’s more than 400 years old and was founded on a conventional educational footing.

The Francis Crick Institute, on the other hand, has not yet reached its first birthday, and is founded on a speculative model of science operation. Savill is not comparing like with like.

Jim Yelland
Via timeshighereducation.com

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