Further, history shows that as early as 1537 with the publication of New Science a technical book on the mechanics of ballistics, a debate raged as to whether to adhere to alchemical principles or this new idea of observing and measuring sensory based information. This is a span of 149 years. So we might want to be more forgiving of people who are trying to find an appropriate basis for a field. And while such time spans may give us little personal solace, we can know from history that an appropriate basis will be found and, at least at first, hotly disputed and dismissed by the majority of thinkers. Perhaps it will even be developed several times by various individuals and groups before it is noticed for what it is, a wine of great vintage and value.
Universities are nurseries of orthodoxy.
The university, while offering a nurturing environment, is not a creative one. It can't be. That isn't the function of higher education.