Thomas Kuhn

Kuhns early life

Jul 18, 1922

Thomas Kuhn was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on July 18, 1922. He was the son of Minette Kuhn and Samuel Kuhn. He attended Lincoln and was educated under a progressive school. This would be a trend in his educational life as the next school he attended was also a progressive school. After so much influence by the left he almost joined the leftist American student union. The issue was the oath before being allowed to join as the oath had the member swear to never join the army.

Thomas Kuhn time at Harvard

Jun 30, 1940

Thomas Kuhns's time at Harvard would help shape his future to come. Kuhn attended Harvard in 1940 just as his father has. Where he went for a BS in physics. His time at Harvard was rushed as America entered World War 2. It seems that Kuhn wanted to support the war as he started taking summer classes. Then after 3 years, he graduated with his BS in Physics.

Time Over Seas

Jul 25, 1943

Right after he graduated Kuhn joined the Radio Research Laboratory theoretical group. Located on the campus it was an 800-person secret research laboratory during war world 2. (Liquid 2022) The RRL was engaged in both analysis and hardware development. This work took him all over the world as far as France and Germany. After the war, he went back to Harvard to complete his studies.

Thomas Kuhn Scientific revolutions (YouTube)

1950

Included this link as it is a video i found helpful for understanding scientific revolutions. https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=youtube+thoams+kuhn&docid=608032949841306412&mid=F9E67B3FEC9066FADC26F9E67B3FEC9066FADC26&view=detail&FORM=VIRE

The Paradigm shift

Jun 22, 1962

After the war, Kuhn returned to Harvard, but when he returned, he found himself bored with psychics and wanted to study philosophy. He would later start to teach philosophy and leave Harvard to become a professor at Berkely. This is where Kuhns concept of the paradigm was invented. Kuhn first used the word in his book n 1962 The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. The book helps Kuhn's argument for scientific progress was not just facts and theories that where proven true.

Kuhns Quotes

Sep 9, 1962

Kuhn said" a new theory, however special its range of application, is seldom or never just an increment to what is already known. Its assimilation an intrinsically revolutionary process that is seldom completed by a single man and never overnight. No wonder historians have had difficulty in dating precisely this extended process that their vocabulary impels them to view as an isolated event.” (Chicago1962) This I believe is Kuhns odd humor at historians trying to label the scientific processes.

Kuhns in late

Jan 30, 1996

Kuhn would eventually move to MIT to be a professor of philosophy and history of science. Kuhn would later have some marital issues at home. In 1991 he retired from MIT at age 69. Thomas then died at age 73 in 1996 in Cambridge. He has been dealing with cancer since 1994 and had it in his bronchial tubes and throat. Jed Z. Buchwald the Bern Dibner Professor of the history of science said Kuhn "was the most influential historian and philosopher of science or our time."(MIT)