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The life of Thomas Kuhn
Thomas Kuhn began as a phyisist, he then changed paths to the history of science. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L70T4pQv7P8 -
Kuhn and Popper
In the early '60s, Thomas Kuhn and Karl Popper met in a London conference. They debated their views on "the nature of theory change in science."
https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/apus/reader.action?docID=217812 -
Publishment of The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
Thomas Kuhn published his second book in 1962, it was a part of the series of "International Encyclopedia of Unified Science" -
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
Thomas Kuhns book is one of the most cited academic books of all time. He brought about a new style to the Philosophy of Science which brought it closer to the History of Science. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/thomas-kuhn/ -
Paradigms
Thomas Kuhn believed that paradigms defined the developments of science, one paradigm covered one “scientific theory”, when the views of the scientific community shift due to new knowledge or beliefs then the paradigm would shift. -
Quality vs. Quantity
Paradigms are more about quality than quantity. Thomas Kuhn believed that there have to be rules which would limit the “acceptable solutions and the ways in which they can be obtained.”, the paradigms were to provide the criteria for this.
https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/apus/reader.action?docID=1644308 -
Different Paradigm shifts
Some of the different paradigms shifts we know about are
- The change from Ptolemaic cosmology to Copernican heliocentrism
- Newtonian mechanics being changed by quantum physics.
- Darwin's theory of natural selection (Evolution)
- The Germ Theory of Disease, from believing that "bad air" was the cause of ailments to the thought that pathogens were the reason.