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Thomas S. Kuhn Early Education
Thomas Samuel Kuhn was born on July 18 1922 in Cincinnati Ohio. The first born to a father who worked as a Hydraulic Engineer and a mother who had a career as a Professional Editor. They relocated to New Your City and later to a small town about an hour up the Hudson River. As a child Kuhn attended what could be described as some well "politically progressive private school" (Nickles). He was admitted in Harvard University in 1940, a choice influenced by his father's alma mater. -
War Veteran & Lecturer
Upon his returning from WWI, Kuhn agreed to attend a lecture on the History of Science to a Harvard Undergraduate Class. During this lecture he found it very challenging to comprehend the ancient Greek Philosopher Aristotle's ideas of motion and based on his learning of physics found it conflicting with those of the past (Famous Scientists). It wasn't until he researched the underlying science of the Ancient Greeks that Thomas began to understand Aristotle's ideas (Famous Scientists). -
Kuhn's Contribution and idea of The Structure of Science
His philosophy of Scientific discoveries and developments would forever change our prospective of science. He authored the book "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions" a landmark study devoted to the history of science. A self‐described "practicing historian of science" He emphasizes the critical role of paradigms, which are taken to be "universally recognized scientific achievements that for a time provide model problems and solutions to a community of practitioners" ( Andersen et al). -
The Model of Scientific Development
Kuhn described in a preliminary way, a pattern of development that could be found throughout science and throughout science's history. By using examples ranging from ancient astronomy and optics to physics in the twentieth century. He illustrated that Hierarchical Principles of Conceptual Structures would best explain his view. Consisting of three phases. The No-Overlap Principle, The Exhaustion Principle and The Inclusion Principle.(Anand, Gopesh, et al) -
A New Philosophy of Science - London
The protagonists of what has become known as the "new philosophy of science" gave rise to a wide and rich debate that involved several philosophers from different countries. The International Colloquium in the Philosophy of Science held in London in 65 saw the meeting and clash of some of the most important philosophers of the 20th century. particularly Kuhn's Since the present work aims at offering a critique of one of the characteristic of the post-Popperian philosophy of science (Gattei). -
Thomas S. Kuhn Accolades and Awards
Thomas S. Kuhn had many lifetime achievements that to this day is said to have cause great unrest amongst some of the greatest philosophers of his time. From being named the Guggenheim Fellow in 1954 to being awarded the George Sarton Medal, the most prestigious award by the History of Science Society (HSS). He would also receive a vast number of honorary doctorates for his brilliance and work as a physicist. -
The Man, The Myth, The Legend Thomas S. Kuhn
Thomas S. Kuhn’s remarkable gift to the philosophy of science celebrated not an historical break through with numerous key positivist principles, but also unveiled a new flair of philosophy of science that brought it closer to the history of science" (Bird). "Truth emerges more readily from error than from confusion." ~Thomas Kuhn. RIP.
