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Early life
Thomas Samuel Kuhn born July 18, 1922, in Cincinnati, Ohio was an American Historian of Science who earned his bachelor's and master's degree in physics at Harvard University. After obtaining those two degrees, he also obtained a Ph.D. in the History of Science.
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Thomas S. Kuhn". Encyclopedia Britannica, 14 Jul. 2020, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thomas-S-Kuhn. Accessed 6 May 2021. -
Life and career
Kuhn obtained his Ph.D. in physics in 1949, he was then elected to the prestigious "Society of Fellows" at Harvard. Then in 1956, Kuhn taught a science class for undergraduates in humanities and this is where he was able to study historical scientific texts in detail.
During this period of his work, he turned to the history of astronomy and in 1957 published his first book, "The Copernican Evolution".
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Release of "The Structure of The Scientific Revolutions"
Thomas Kuhn released a book called "The Structure of Scientific Revolution" and by the 80s it became a best seller and most cited in the science community. He argued that scientific research is defined by "paradigms", or simply that science unfolds in a repeating pattern that we can study its history.
Kaiser, D. In retrospect: The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Nature 484, 164–165 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/484164a -
Evolutionary philosophy of science
In the mid-80s and early 90s, Kuhn shifted from the historical philosophy of science to an evolutionary philosophy of science. Kuhn was working on his third book "Words and Worlds: An Evolutionary View of Scientific Development". The book aims to address the philosophical issues leftover from his previous book, but also to resolve problems from the historical philosophy of science.
Marcum, James, "Thomas S Kuhn"
https://iep.utm.edu/kuhn-ts/#SH6b, Web, May 8, 2021 -
Kuhns Death
Kuhn retired from MIT in 1991 at the age of 69. On June 17, 1996, at the age of 73, he lost his two-year battle with throat and lung cancer in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
"Thomas Kuhn." Famous Scientists. famousscientists.org. 12 Jun. 2017. Web. 5/8/2021
<www.famousscientists.org/thomas-kuhn/>.