Thomas Samuel Kuhn (July 18, 1922 – June 17, 1996)

Birth

Jul 18, 1922

Thomas Samuel Kuhn was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1922. (p. 1) Preston, John. Kuhn’s “the Structure of Scientific Revolutions”: A Reader’s Guide. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2008.

Education

1940

Thomas Kuhn attended various schools in New York, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut. He excelled in math and sciences. Kuhn studied physics, history, and philosophy. He graduated from Harvard only 3 years later in 1943. (p. 1) Preston, John. Kuhn’s “the Structure of Scientific Revolutions”: A Reader’s Guide. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2008.

World War II

1943

Thomas Kuhn's first job was working at the Radio Research Laboratory of the US Office of Research and Development. He researched radar installations and countermeasures in order to support the war. (p. 1) Preston, John. Kuhn’s “the Structure of Scientific Revolutions”: A Reader’s Guide. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2008.

An Idea is Formed

1947

After the war, Thomas went back to Harvard to study physics and philosophy. While working on a project, he studied the physics of Aristotle. He saw a lot of errors in his work until he started to see physics in the way Aristotle saw them. This shift caused him to come up with the idea of scientific revolutions. (p. 1-3) Preston, John. Kuhn’s “the Structure of Scientific Revolutions”: A Reader’s Guide. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2008.

First Book: The Copernican Revolution

1957

Thomas Kuhn wrote his book, The Copernican Revolution. In this book, Kuhn provides his research and history from early Greek ideas of the cosmos to the modern ideas on a heliocentric model of our universe. Kuhn, Thomas S. The Copernican Revolution : Planetary Astronomy in the Development of Western Thought. Harvard University Press, 1957.

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

1962

In 1962, Thomas Kuhn published his greatest work called The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Here is describes paradigms as a time when science gradually works on a problem or idea via classic theories and methods. He goes on to explain the idea that eventually a paradigm in science in replaced by another via a scientific revolution. This term is taught to students today. Kuhn, Thomas S. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1996. Print.

Releasing His Work: The Essential Tension

1977

Thomas Kuhn published The Essential Tension : Selected Studies in Scientific Tradition and Change in 1977. This was a collection of his essays that explored his writings in the history of science and portrays some of his studies that culminated into The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Kuhn, Thomas S. The Essential Tension : Selected Studies in Scientific Tradition and Change . University of Chicago Press, 1977, https://doi.org/10.7208/9780226217239.

Death

Jun 17, 1996

Thomas Kuhn died in 1996 after his battle with cancer for two years. His legacy of paradigm shifts revolutionized the philosophy of science. He emphasized the importance of scientific revolutions for the progress of knowledge and to propel science forward. To learn more about Thomas Kuhn, watch this short education video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L70T4pQv7P8 Preston, John. Kuhn’s “the Structure of Scientific Revolutions”: A Reader’s Guide. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2008.