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Thomas Khun’s Birthday
Thomas Kuhn was born on July 18, 1922, in Cincinnati, Ohio. His father, Samuel Louis Kuhn was a graduate of Harvard as well as MIT. His mother, Minette Kuhn came from a wealthy family in New York and was a graduate of Vassar College. At only a few months old, Thomas Kuhn was moved to New York. -
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Early Schooling
From Kindergarten to fifth grade Thomas attended a private school in Manhattan named Lincoln, which focused on independent thinking. Moving forward, Thomas attended Hessian Hills, throughout his sixth and ninth-grade years, he developed a passion and love for mathematics. Leaving Hessian Hills in 1937, he went on to attend The Taft School, where he graduated in 1940. As a straight-A student, Thomas was accepted into Harvard to study Physics. -
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Harvard
In 1940 Thomas Kuhn began his first semester at Harvard University. He spent his time accelerating towards his Bachelor's as America entered World War 2. He began taking summer classes, eventually receiving his BS in Physics in 1943. Afterward, he joined the war efforts creating countermeasures against enemy radars. When the war ended, he resumed his studies at Harvard and obtained his master’s degree in Physics in 1946. Following that he later received his doctorate in 1949. -
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Professor Kuhn
After Thomas received his doctorate he soon began teaching classes. From 1951 to 1956 he taught history and philosophy of science at Harvard. From 1956 to 1964 he taught at the University of California. From 1964 to 1979 taught at Princeton University. He later became a teacher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from 1979 to 1991. -
The Copernican Revolution
As Thomas taught courses at Harvard focusing on Aristotle, he soon became much more fascinated in his work. This interest led Kuhn to dive deeper into the history of science, leading him to publish his first book, “The Copernican Revolution”. In this book, he describes that the Copernican Revolution was not only a revolution in astronomy but philosophy and science as well. -
he Structure of Scientific Revolutions
After he publicizes The Copernican Revolution, Thomas Kuhn’s “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions”, Kuhn goes on to define the regular work of scientists as “normal science”. He describes something he called a paradigm shift, as a change that occurs when a paradigm no longer works when introduced to new phenomena.
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Thomas Kuhn’s Death
After spending a lifetime teaching others as a professor along with his groundbreaking publications, Thomas Kuhn passed away on June 17, 1996, at the age of 73. What he left behind was a legacy that will undoubtedly influence generations of scientists and philosophers. Thomas Kuhn is buried at Ottawa, LaSalle County, Illinois.
