On the basis of an analysis of academic satires from three centuries and of the conventions of this genre, this article argues that academic satire usually reflect conflicts in opinions about what good, normal science ought to be. Such ideals were influenced by changing ecclesiastical, confessional and social contexts. Apart from some examples of plays about students, of the role of pamphlets in general, and some novels from the period of German Idealism, it draws on three case studies: Johannes Reuchlin's Epistolae obscurorum virorum (1515), the Conspicilia Batavica (1609) and the Aristophanis Senatus Consultum (1761).