Thomas Kuhn

  • Thomas Samuel Kuhn Born

    Thomas Kuhn was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. Over the course of his life, he would teach philosophy of science at Harvard, Berkeley, Princeton, and MIT. He was a professor of the history of science. He taught at MIT. He had published a collection of work that was revolutionizing to history and philosophy.
  • Kuhn Graduation and PHD

    Kuhn continued his study after finishing his master's degree in physics at Harvard in 1946, earning his doctorate in 1949. The Cohesive Energy of Monovalent Metals as a Function of Atomic Quantum Defects was his thesis topic. A result of this, Kuhn was elected to Harvard's Society of Fellows.
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    Harvard University

    He taught philosophy of science at Harvard during this period.
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    Teaching at Berkeley

    During this time he left teaching at Harvard to teach at Berkeley.
  • The Copernican Revolution

    During his time at Harvard, Kuhn taught undergraduate classes on Aristotle's works. From Aristotle's work, he rapidly grew bewildered. As a result of his perplexity, Kuhn decided to focus on the history of science. All of this culminated to the publication of his debut book, The Copernican Revolution. The Copernican Revolution outlines the evolution of the heliocentric view of the solar system during the Renaissance.
  • Scientific Revolutions

    Kuhn discusses the history of science in his book Structure of Scientific Revolutions. He then goes on to question what he refers to as "normal science." "He claimed that scientific study and ideas are determined by "paradigms," or conceptual world-views, that consist of existing theories, classic experiment, and trusted techniques," according to the Encyclopedia Britannica. This would lead to a large revolution for science as a whole. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L70T4pQv7P8.
  • Essay Collection

    According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, "Kuhn's work transformed science's philosophy and history, and his concept of paradigm shifts was applied to fields as diverse as political science, economics, sociology, and even management. Kuhn's following writings include The Essential Tension (1977), a collection of essays, and Black-Body Theory and the Quantum Discontinuity (1978), a technical study." This is the following resources utilized. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thomas-S-Kuhn
  • Thomas Samuel Kuhn Death

    For two years prior to his death he battled cancer in his bronchial tubes and throat. He then would pass away in Cambridge, Massachusetts.