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Full Idea
Consilience is the jumping together of knowledge by the linking of facts and fact-based theory across disciplines to create a common groundwork of explanation.
Gist of Idea
Consilience is a common groundwork of explanation
Source
William Whewell (The Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences [1840]), quoted by Peter Watson - Convergence Intro 'United'
Book Ref
Watson,Peter: 'Convergence' [Simon and Schuster 2016], p.12
A Reaction
Apparently this is the first use of the word, which was popularised by E.O. Wilson in recent times. If, as I do, you dream of a final theory, in philosophy as well as in science, then you have to be a fan of consilience.