-
Birth
Thomas S. Kuhn was born on 18 July 1922 in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA ("Thomas Kuhn"). -
Earns BS in Physics
In 1943, Kuhn earned his BS in Physics from Harvard ("Thomas Kuhn"). -
War Work 1943-1946
During WWII, Kuhn worked for Radio Research Laboratory’s theoretical group ("Thomas Kuhn"). Initially based out of Harvard, Kuhn traveled to England, France, and Germany to study captured German radar systems and devise counter measures ("Thomas Kuhn"). Afterwards, he returned to continue his education at Harvard ("Thomas Kuhn"). -
Earns Masters in Physics
Kuhn returned to Harvard after the war and earned his masters degree in in physics in 1946 ("Thomas Kuhn"). -
Work in History of Science
Starting in 1948, Kuhn, working as a Junior Fellow in the Harvard Society of Fellows, developed ideas about the mechanisms of scientific progress ("Thomas Kuhn"). He recognized that material taught to students of science was presented as "fact" and that the creative processes of science that lead to that information were often not emphasized ("Thomas Kuhn"). -
Earns PhD
Kuhn earned his PhD in 1949 ("Thomas Kuhn"). -
Publishes The Copernican Revolution
In 1957 Kuhn publishes his book: The Copernican Revolution, which he analyzed Copernicus' book: De revolutionibus. Kuhn claimed that Copernicus' heliocentric theory of the solar system was adopted due to "aesthetic reasons rather than scientific reasons" (Bird; "Thomas Kuhn"). -
-
Publishes The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
In 1962 Kuhn published The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, his most influential work ("Thomas Kuhn"). In this book, Kuhn outlined his idea of how scientific change occurs via cycles of "normal science" and "revolutionary science" by examining history (Bird; Marcum). Kuhn argued that scientists on opposite sides of a revolution will interpret facts differently, that they work in different paradigms and are incommensurable because they work with different world views (Bird; "Thomas Kuhn"). -
1 Normal Science
Kuhn called the work that is done within a paradigm "normal science", in which "the community forces nature into a conceptually rigid framework" by conducting research to apply the paradigm in greater detail; Kuhn calls much of this work "puzzle solving" (Marcum). Normal scientists accept the foundations of the paradigm and do not seek observations that conflict with their paradigm, when such "anomalies" occur, normal scientists attempt to resolve them (Marcum). -
2 Crisis and Revolution
When anomalies resist being resolved by the current paradigm, normal science transitions into crisis, in which scientists attempt to salvage the paradigm by ad hoc modifications, and eventually transitions into extraordinary science, where science is less organized and the fundamentals of the paradigm are reexamined (Marcum). When a new paradigm is found that resolves the anomalies that the original paradigm could not, it is adopted and normal science resumes (Marcum). -
Publishes 2nd Edition of Structure
From the time he Published Structure in 1962, Kuhn defended and modified his views expressed in that work (Marcum). In 1970 he published the 2nd edition of Structure, which contained his slightly revised view of scientific change (Marcum). -
Publishes The Essential Tension: Selected Studies in Science Tradition and Change
Publishes The Essential Tension: Selected Studies in Science Tradition and Change (Marcum). -
Publishs Black-Body Theory and the Quantum Discontinuity
Publishs Black-Body Theory and the Quantum Discontinuity (Marcum). -
Contribution to the Philosophy of Science
Kuhn's major contribution to the philosophy of science was his new way of understanding the process of scientific change, as analyzed from a historical perspective, instead of from a logical and abstract perspective of a "final product" of science (Marcum). In his most influential work, Structure, Kuhn sought to describe scientific change as it really occurs and how the scientific community really operates, via a cycle of normal science, crisis, and revolution (Marcum). -
Death
Thomas S. Kuhn died on 17 June 1996 at age 73 ("Thomas Kuhn").
