ABSTRACT
Underlying the arguments of this book is a simple question: ‘What is the purpose of a university?’ No doubt many today would respond that the answer is obvious – so obvious, perhaps, that the question isn’t worth asking. Surely (they might say) the purpose of a university is to help society meet its skills needs for the future; and it might do that both by teaching established skills to students and by carrying out research that elaborates new technological and socio-economic responses to meet the future problems and opportunities we expect to face. After all (they might continue), haven’t universities done this in one form or another for a long time?
