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Thomas Kuhn
Thomas Kuhn was an American philosopher who we had the honor of learning about in the first weeks of this philosophy of science course and is the author of the 1962 book "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions" and he is the one that introduced the world to the term "paradigm shift". Kuhn was born on July 18, 1992 in Cincinnati Ohio. -
Receiving his Ph. D
After completing his master's degree in Physics at Harvard in 1946, Kuhn continued his education completing his doctorate in 1949. His thesis was The Cohesive Energy of Monovalent Metals as a Function of the Atomic Quantum Defects. This in turn resulted in Kuhn being elected to the Society of Fellows at Harvard. -
Teaching the Copernican Revolution
While teaching at Harvard Kuhn taught undergraduate courses that delved into Aristotle's work. He quickly became perplexed from Aristotle's work. This caused Kuhn to concentrate on the history of science. All of this led up to his first book being published, The Copernican Revolution. Cosmos Magazine describes The Copernican Revolution by stating the following, "examines the development of the heliocentric theory of the solar system during the Renaissance." -
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
Thomas Kuhn's greatest work. Written in four editions, this book discusses the history, philosophy, and sociology of science. Published in 1962, this introduces the newly coined term "paradigm shift" which, in the book is described as "a concept that is a fundamental change in the basic concepts and experimental practices of a scientific discipline". This book also introduces us to Kuhn's four phases of science which is; Pre-paradigmatic Phase, Normal science, Crisis, and Scientific Revolution. -
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Teaching as a Professor
In 1964, Kuhn moved to Princeton University as the M. Taylor Pyne Professor of Philosophy and History of Science. In 1979, he became Laurance S. Rockefeller Professor of Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). -
His Death
Diagnosed with lung cancer in 1994. On June 17, 1996, Thomas Kuhn died at the age of 73. He passed in his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts. For the previous two years he had been ill and battling cancer in his bronchial tubes and throat. -
Work Cited
Kuhn, Thomas S. The Copernican Revolution: Planetary Astronomy in the Development of Western Thought. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1957. Print. -
Work Cited
Kuhn, Thomas S. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Chicago, IL: U of Chicago, 2015. Print. -
Work Cited
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Thomas S. Kuhn". Encyclopedia Britannica, 14 Jun. 2021, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thomas-S-Kuhn. Accessed 11 July 2021.