--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Do you want a revolution in science? Do…" description: "\"“Do you want a revolution in science? Do what businesspeople do when they want a technological revolution: Just change the rules a bit. Let in a few re..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f2/lee-smolin-4171_investing_do-you-want-a-revolution-in-science-do-w_2561890.jpg" --- # Do you want a revolution in science? Do what… ![“Do you want a revolution in science? Do what businesspeople do when they want a technological revolution: Just change the rules a bit. Let in a few revolutionaries. Make the hierarchy a bit flatter, to give the young people more scope and freedom. Create some opportunities for…” quote by Lee Smolin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f2/lee-smolin-4171_investing_do-you-want-a-revolution-in-science-do-w_2561890.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f2/lee-smolin-4171_investing_do-you-want-a-revolution-in-science-do-w_2561890.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f2/lee-smolin-4171_investing_do-you-want-a-revolution-in-science-do-w_2561890.jpg) > ““Do you want a revolution in science? Do what businesspeople do when they want a technological revolution: Just change the rules a bit. Let in a few revolutionaries. Make the hierarchy a bit flatter, to give the young people more scope and freedom. Create some opportunities for high-risk/high-payoff people, so as to balance the huge investment you made in low-risk, incremental science. The technology companies and investment banks use this strategy. Why not try it in academia? The payoff could be discovering how the universe works.”” [Lee Smolin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smolin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Encourages academia to adopt business-like strategies—flatten hierarchies, empower risk‑taking innovators—to accelerate breakthroughs. **In simple terms:** Make science more like tech startups: flatter, risk‑friendly, innovative. Key Takeaway Adopt flatter structures and support high‑risk research. Themes innovation risk hierarchy science policy entrepreneurship Mood optimistic challenging Type strategic visionary When to use this quote - grant committees - university departments - research labs - startup incubators Key Concepts disruptive innovation institutional change funding models Questions to Reflect On - How can institutions balance risk and accountability? - What safeguards protect against reckless research? A Different Perspective Academic cultures often resist rapid change and may lack incentives for high‑risk work. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Investing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/investing/) [Let Revolutionaries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/let-revolutionaries-1612790/) [Revolution Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/revolution-science-1359284/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Science Businesspeople](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science-businesspeople-1612789/) [Technological Revolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/technological-revolution-555631/) [Technology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/technology/) [Want Revolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want-revolution-654097/) [Young people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/young-people/) ## Related quotes > [“The revolution of science that Newton single-handedly achieved in Principia was primarily that the laws of motion and gravity, and the nature of space…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-flynn/the-revolution-of-science-that-newton-single-handedly-achieved-in/) [David Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-flynn/) > [The word 'revolution' first brings to mind violent upheavals in the state, but ideas of revolution in science, and of political revolution, are almost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-hacking/the-word-revolution-first-brings-to-mind-violent-upheavals-in-the/) [Ian Hacking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-hacking/) > [In the Year 2000 the discovery of extraterrestrial life will create a revolution in science, art, and pornography.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conan-o-brien/in-the-year-2000-the-discovery-of-extraterrestrial-life-will-create-a/) [Conan O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conan-o-brien/) > [...revolutions are not won by enlisting the masses. Revolution is a science for the few who are competent to practice it. It depends on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/revolutions-are-not-won-by-enlisting-the-masses-revolution-is-a/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [I don't want revolution in my country. The only way to change Russia without blood is evolution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ksenia-sobchak/i-don-t-want-revolution-in-my-country-the-only-way-to-change-russia/) [Ksenia Sobchak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ksenia-sobchak/) > [“You want a revolution, start murdering innocents.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-f-moonzajer/you-want-a-revolution-start-murdering-innocents/) [M.F. Moonzajer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-f-moonzajer/) > [Citizens, did you want a revolution without revolution?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maximilien-robespierre/citizens-did-you-want-a-revolution-without-revolution/) [Maximilien Robespierre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maximilien-robespierre/) > [I want to see a revolution of kindness, because what happens is, when you're kind and you give, it's infectious. You give one time,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leigh-anne-tuohy/i-want-to-see-a-revolution-of-kindness-because-what-happens-is-when/) [Leigh Anne Tuohy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leigh-anne-tuohy/) > [We know what we want. 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That is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fidel-castro/at-times-i-ve-referred-to-christ-s-miracles-and-have-said-well-christ/) [Fidel Castro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fidel-castro/) > [“If you want a revolution return to your childhood and kick out the bottom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-want-a-revolution-return-to-your-childhood-and-kick-out-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“You are asking me to give up everything for a cause that isn't mine. I don't want to be part of any revolution. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherry-thomas/you-are-asking-me-to-give-up-everything-for-a-cause-that-isn-t-mine-i/) [Sherry Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherry-thomas/) > [If I can't dance, I don't want to be part of your revolution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/if-i-can-t-dance-i-don-t-want-to-be-part-of-your-revolution/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) ## More by Lee Smolin > [“This unification of forces and motion has a simple consequence. In a particle theory, you can freely add all kinds of forces, so there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smolin/this-unification-of-forces-and-motion-has-a-simple-consequence-in-a/) [Lee Smolin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smolin/) > [“One field Faraday studied was the electric field. This is not a number but a vector, which we may visualize as an arrow and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smolin/one-field-faraday-studied-was-the-electric-field-this-is-not-a-number/) [Lee Smolin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smolin/) > [“It is interesting to note that the quantum-mechanical revolution was made by a virtually orphaned generation of scientists. 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They started with a much-studied kind of string theory-a flat four-dimensional spacetime with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smolin/here-s-a-simplified-version-of-what-the-stanford-group-did-they/) [Lee Smolin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smolin/) > [“The current crisis in particle physics springs from the fact that the theories have gone beyond the standard model in the last thirty years…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smolin/the-current-crisis-in-particle-physics-springs-from-the-fact-that-the/) [Lee Smolin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smolin/) > [“By the time I began my study of physics in the early 1970s, the idea of unifying gravity with the other forces was as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smolin/by-the-time-i-began-my-study-of-physics-in-the-early-1970s-the-idea/) [Lee Smolin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smolin/) > [“These two discoveries, of relativity and of the quantum, each required us to break definitively with Newtonian physics. However, in spite of great progress…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smolin/these-two-discoveries-of-relativity-and-of-the-quantum-each-required/) [Lee Smolin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smolin/) > [“So the challenge for any quantum theory of gravity is to give us a deeper understanding of Bekenstein's entropy and Hawking's temperature.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smolin/so-the-challenge-for-any-quantum-theory-of-gravity-is-to-give-us-a/) [Lee Smolin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smolin/) > [“Problem 1: Combine general relativity and quantum theory into a single theory that can claim to be the complete theory of nature. This is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smolin/problem-1-combine-general-relativity-and-quantum-theory-into-a-single/) [Lee Smolin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smolin/) > [“The loop approach to quantum gravity is now a thriving field of research. 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Mankins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-c-mankins/) > [I'll invest my money in people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-keith-kellogg/i-ll-invest-my-money-in-people/) [Will Keith Kellogg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-keith-kellogg/) [Browse all 13,164 Investing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/investing/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Do you want a revolution in science? Do what businesspeople do when they want a technological revolution: Just change the rules a bit. Let in a few revolutionaries. Make the hierarchy a bit flatter, to give the young people more scope and freedom. Create some opportunities for high-risk/high-payoff people, so as to balance the huge investment you made in low-risk, incremental science. The technology companies and investment banks use this strategy. Why not try it in academia? 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