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Thomas Kuhn (1922-1996)

By Khalil Grinds

  • Date of Birth

    Thomas Kuhn was born on July 18, 1922 in Cincinnati, Ohio. His parents were Minette S. Kuhn and Samuel L. Kuhn. Throughout the earlier parts of Kuhn's educational journey, he attended multiple schools. Kindergarten through fifth grade, Kuhn attended a private progressive school named Lincoln School. From sixth through ninth grade Kuhn continued his education at Hessian Hills School. Kuhn then went to attend his final years of high school at The Taft School.

  • Professor of the History of Science

    Thomas Kuhn began his teaching career at Harvard University in 1948. In 1956 Kuhn left Harvard and went on to teach at the University of California at Berkeley. While teaching at the University of California at Berkeley, Kuhn was named Professor of the history of science in 1961. Following his time at the University of California at Berkeley, Kuhn began to teach at Princeton University in 1964. Lastly Kuhn left Princeton in 1979 and taught at the Massachusetts Institute of technology until 1991.

  • The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

    The book "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions" is something Kuhn is well known for. In this book Kuhn unravels the theory of paradigm shifts. Kuhn stated how he did not believe that the progression of science is not linear. There are four editions of this book. The first edition was published in 1962, the second in 1970, the third in 1996, and the fourth was published in 2012. Here is a link to an educational video on the subject, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C99X-Ye-GB0.

  • Elected to the National Academy of Sciences

    In 1979 Kuhn was elected into the National Academy of Sciences due to his numerous honorary degrees and memberships in honorary societies. As well as his book "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions" which uncovered the discoveries of paradigm shifts that continuously have effects on the process of science in todays world (National Academy of Sciences).

  • Date of Death

    Thomas Kuhn effected many minds. Some say he had even changed the way of understanding science. Kuhn is an honorable philosopher, professor, and author. Following all of his accomplishments and failures, Kuhn passed on June 17, 1996.