Whereas it is has now been generally recognised that multilingualism is important for society, for culture and (more recently) for the economy, the world of science still largely escapes notice. But science too is created and transmitted in and through communication, which means that thought needs to be given to the various forms of its communication. Today, the construction and transmission of knowledge is based on a growing monolingualism, with English as the lingua franca/ lingua academica regarded as a condition of any knowledge that seeks to be universal. However, this idea is based on the illusion that languages are transparent and that the modes of communication are universal, because they are mere vehicles in the service of ideas and discoveries. Although English has facilitated extraordinary advances in knowledge, it can also eventually lead to the impoverishment of knowledge. There are risks in developing a monoculture of knowledge and science in so far as languages are involved in shaping knowledge.