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The Copernican Revolution is Published
This is Thomas Kuhn's first book, but still provides some insight on the changing of ideas and theories. It outlines how a significant change in a theory or development of a new theory can change the way we process that information. "Thomas S. Kuhn displays the full scope of the Copernican Revolution... a critical turning point in the evolution of scientific thought, and a crisis in Western man’s concept of his relation to the universe and to God." (Contant) -
The Essential Tension: Tradition and Innovation in Scientific Research" is published
In this writing, Kuhn points out that there is a paradox in research. 'Normal' research is really coming together to an agreement, but the effect of this historical convention based method is to change the tradition. "On the one hand, without the possibility of divergent thought, fundamental innovation would be precluded. On the other hand, without a strong emphasis on convergent thought, science would become a mess created by continuous theory changes." (Anderson 32(1) -
"The Structure of Scientific Revolutions" is Published
In this groundbreaking book, Kuhn explains 'normal' science and how it fits into a paradigm. "A paradigm, in Kuhn's theory, is a whole way of doing science." (Godfrey, 76). Kuhn's theory of the paradigm completely changed the perception of advancement in knowledge as 'linear'. He further explains that different paradigms from different sciences are 'incommensurable'. In other words, "not comparable by use of a common standard or measure" (Godfrey, 91). -
Chapter 10 of The Structure of Schientific Revolutions
This is the final and probably most interesting chapter in Kuhn's book. This is where Kuhn suggests that with our theories and ideas, our view of the world changes too. "After a [scientific] revolution, scientists work in a different world" (Godfrey, 96). He even had students wear glasses and adapt to the new vision, stating there is a transformation in perception. He used this as an example of the relation between perception of paradigms and visual perception. (TAWOP Channel) -
Video "Review of Chapter 10 of Thomas Kuhn's 'The Structure of Scientific Revolutions'
This video summarizes Kuhn's final chapter in 'Structure'. It has a couple of good examples and does a pretty good job explaining some of the complex ideas Kuhn expressed. Link text -
Kuhn's cycle: Paradigms and Criticism
An excellent video explaining the structure of scientific revolutions. It breaks down how paradigms are structures and eventually crumble.
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