Wisdom’s workshop: the rise of the modern university, by James Axtell

What is it about?

This is a review of James Axtell's book 'Wisdom’s workshop: the rise of the modern university' (Princeton University Press, 2016). Axtell traces the rise of USA universities from what he sees as their medieval European university origins. and then describes the foundation of Harvard; the great expansion of colleges and academies with the spread of settlements west and south until the US civil war of 1861 to 1865; the training of USA postgraduates in German universities from the 1850s to WWI; the expansion of USA universities to WWII; and the explosion of enrolments and research after WWII.

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