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Thomas Samuel Kuhn's Early Life
Thomas Kuhn is born in Cincinnati, Ohio of parents who were both college-educated individuals. He would attend Harvard University & assist the United States during WWI by developing countermeasures against enemy radar. He would teach historical case studies to Undergraduates at Harvard where he was bewildered by the scientific work of Aristotle. This led him to concentrate more on the history of science rather than physics, which is the specialty he held a Masters and Doctorate (Bird). -
Kuhn & the Harvard Undergraduate Lecture
After returning from the war in Europe, Kuhn was invited to give a lecture on the History of Science to a Harvard Undergraduate Class. It was during this lecture that he had a difficult time trying to understand Aristotle's ideas of motion due to his current education in physics that conflicted with those of the past (Famous Scientists). It wasn't until he studied the underlying science of the Ancient Greeks that Kuhn began to understand Aristotle's ideas (Famous Scientists). -
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
The 1st publication of Kuhn's book "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions" releases & is one of the most cited academic books of all time. Kuhn describes a paradigm shift. He receives criticism by other scientists; "First, it has been argued that Kuhn’s account of the development of science is not entirely accurate. Secondly, critics have attacked Kuhn’s notion of incommensurability, arguing that either it does not exist or, if it does exist, it is not a significant problem" (Bird). -
The Kuhn vs Feyerabend Debate
A Scientific Colloquium is held in London. One of the key events would be a debate between Kuhn & Feyerebend where Feyerebend would promote his shared ideas of critical rationalism with Karl Popper (Bird). Unfortunately, Paul wouldn't attend due to being ill. This gave concentration on Kuhn & would promote his profile amongst other philosophers (Bird). This same year, the 2nd edition of The Structure of Scientific Revolution is published & Kuhn clarifies his notion of a paradigm. -
The Sarton Medal
Kuhn is awarded The Sarton Medal this year. This is the most prestigious award of the History of Science Society and is only awarded to outstanding historians of science who are selected by the international scholarly community (Sarton Medal). With Kuhn's discovery & writings of a paradigm shift & incommensurability, his impact on the philosophy of science still upsets few philosophers from his day due to originally being a physicist. -
The Legacy of Thomas Kuhn
"Kuhn’s contribution to the philosophy of science marked not only a break with several key positivist doctrines, but also inaugurated a new style of philosophy of science that brought it closer to the history of science" (Bird). "The answers you get depend upon the questions you ask." ~Thomas Kuhn
