Thomas Kuhn (1922 to 1996)

By Wesley21

  • Birthday

    Thomas Kuhn was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on July 18th, 1922.

  • Undergraduate Degree

    In 1943 Thomas Kuhn graduated from Harvard University with an undergraduate degree in physics.

  • Master's Degree

    In 1946 Thomas Kuhn earned his master's degree in physics from Harvard University.

  • Doctorate Degree

    In 1949 Thomas Kuhn earned his doctorate in physics from Harvard University.

  • Teaching Science for General Education

    From 1949 to 1956 Thomas Kuhn taught courses about historical case studies to undergraduates as part of the general education for the science curriculum. During this time Thomas Kuhn shifted his focus onto the history of science

  • Kuhn's First Book

    Thomas Kuhn focused his work on astronomy and in 1957 published his first book named "The Copernican Revolution". Kuhn, Thomas S. Copernican Revolution: Planetary Astronomy in the Development of Western Thought. Harvard University Press, 2018.

  • Professor at University of California

    In 1961 Thomas Kuhn became a philosophy professor at the University of California, causing him to build interest in the philosophy of science.

  • Supporting his book

    Following the publication of The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, other scientists such as Dudley Shapere argued that Kuhn's ideas were false and Kuhn spent years arguing his point and supporting his ideas. Some of which included the idea that scientists do not use rules to reach their conclusion and also that scientists can not distinguish between thinking up an idea and justifying the idea.

  • The Structure of Scientific Revolutions Published

    In 1962 Thomas Kuhn had his second book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions published in the “International Encyclopedia of Unified Science”. This book put forth the idea of paradigms and how a scientific crisis affects the scientific realm through what he called anomolies.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L70T4pQv7P8

  • Debating Ideas

    In 1965 Khun attended a debate at which his argument was pitted against Feyerabend's argument. During the debate, Kuhn's ideas gained ground and came across to the audience as being significant. As a result papers from the discussion that occurred were later published in 1970 in a book called Criticism and the Growth of Knowledge.

  • Second Edition of The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

    In 1970 Khun had his second edition of The Structure of Scientific Revolutions published. In this edition he further clarified his ideas to include paradigms in response to arguments made against the original book.

  • Publication of Old Works

    From 1977 and on, Kuhn's old essays and works were published within new books and Kuhn continued to refine his work and provide further explanation.

  • Professor at MIT

    In 1983 he was named to be the Rockefeller S. Laurance Philosophy professor at MIT and cotninued additional work that covered a variety of topics.

  • Thomas Kuhn Passes Away

    Up until Thomas Kuhn's death on June 17th, 1996 he continued to conduct his own philosophical research into science, specifically he was working on his second philosophical monograph.