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Birth of Thomas Samuel Kuhn
Thomas S Kuhn was born on July 18, 1922 in Cincinnati, Ohio (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica). -
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College Years
Thomas Kuhn obtained his bachelors degree in physics in 1943 from Harvard University (Bird). He continued his education to eventually obtain his doctorate in 1949, also in physics (Bird). His focus was an application of quantum mechanics to solid state physics (Bird). -
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Teaching at Harvard
Throughout these years, Kuhn taught an undergraduate science class in the humanities, under the General Education in Science curriculum (Bird). This time was Kuhn's first time to study historical scientific texts in detail (Bird). Which started Kuhn to concentrate on the history of science (Bird). -
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Teaching Unniversity of California at Berkley
Thomas Kuhn, moved up to teach in the history of science, but in the philosophy department (Bird). This is where his interest in philosophy were developed (Bird). At Berkley he had several colleagues, one of which connected him with Paul Feyerabrand, who he was able to discuss drafts of his greatest contribution, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (Bird). -
The Copernican Revolution
After spending time looking over the history of astronomy. Thomas Kuhn published his first book The Copernican Revolution (Bird). In it, Kuhn talks about the scope of the revolution and the impacts that it had on society (The Copernican Revolution). -
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
Is the most notable work by Thomas Kuhn and one of the most cited academic books (Bird). The idea behind this book is that the development of science is pushed by what he called paradigms (Bird). If a problem cannot be solved within the confines of the governing paradigm it creates a crisis within, leading to a revolution in favor of a new or rival paradigm that solves the problem (Bird). -
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Teaching at Princeton University
After leaving Berkley, Kuhn took a position at Princeton University as the Professor of Philosophy and History of Science (Bird). During this time, Kuhn continued his work and was subject to criticism as well as a debate between Kuhn and John Watkins, which helped propel him further among philosophers (Bird). -
Published Second Edition of The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
After receiving criticism for the first edition of The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Kuhn wrote the second edition with an important note about the clarification of the term paradigm (Bird). -
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Teaching at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Thomas Kuhn left Princeton University to teach at the Massachusetts Institutes of Technology (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica). Kuhn continued his work throughout the 1980s and 1990s, which included the development of the concept of incommensurability (Bird). -
Death of Thomas Samuel Kuhn
Thomas S Kuhn died June 17th, 1996 in Cambridge Massachusetts (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica). -
Thomas Kuhn: The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
