Thomas kuhn 1

Thomas S. Kuhn (1922-1996)

  • The Beginning

    The Beginning
    Thomas Samuel Kuhn was born July 18, 1922 in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Samuel Louis Kuhn and Minette Kuhn. Three years later his parents gave birth to his baby brother, Roger. From Kindergarten to fifth grade Thomas could not read. With some coaching from his father, he soon began to read.
  • School

    School
    As a Straight-A student, Thomas was admitted to Harvard university in the Fall of 1940. He realized he had to make a choice to major in Mathematics of physics. After going with his fathers view on physics he soon realized that it was harder than expected and scored a C on his first exam.
  • War Work

    War Work
    After graduating with a BS in Physics in 1943, Thomas joined the Radio Research Laboratory's theoretical group that summer. The group was tasked to invent countermeasures agains enemy radar. Based out of Harvard, he was then sent to the United Kingdom, and then later traveled to a Royal Air Force officer in France, and then Germany.
  • History of Science

    History of Science
    In the fall of 1948, Thomas was working on his physics doctorate, he began to develop his idea on as a science historian and philosopher. He focused on understanding the mechanisms of scientific progress.
  • Marriage and Family

    Marriage and Family
    In 1948, Thomas married Kathryn Muhs. They had two daughters and a son together and then divorced in 1978.
  • The Paradigm Shift

    The Paradigm Shift
    In 1962 Thomas published his book "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions", where he first described the paradigm shift. The concept of this theory make him very well known. It was brought to Thomas attention how Aristotle's facts were different from what is used today. That change was the paradigm shift. Please listen to this short educational video: https://youtu.be/oI7qocMDsXM
  • Second Marriage

    Second Marriage
    Thomas then married Jehane Barton Burns in 1981.
  • The End

    The End
    At the Age of 73, Thomas died of cancer June 17, 1996 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.