Thomas Kuhn
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Philosophy & Thought • Historical Archive • 🇺🇸 United States • 1 views

Thomas Kuhn 🇺🇸

Thomas Samuel Kuhn
["Philosopher of Science", "Historian of Science", "Author of Scientific Revolutions"]
Born Jul 18, 1922 🇺🇸 Cincinnati (Ohio), United States
Passed Away Jun 17, 1996 Cambridge (Massachusetts), United States
Lifespan 73 years old
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Notice / Correction
"Normal science does not aim at novelties of fact or theory and, when successful, finds none. Progress comes through revolutionary shifts."

Archival Overview

American philosopher and historian of science whose 1962 landmark book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions coined 'paradigm shift', revolutionizing the understanding of scientific progress.

Biographical Record

Trained as a physicist at Harvard, Thomas Kuhn (1922–1996) broke away from the traditional view that science progresses through steady, linear accumulation of facts. In 'The Structure of Scientific Revolutions' (1962), he showed that scientific communities operate within established 'paradigms' doing puzzle-solving 'normal science'.

When mounting anomalies can no longer be accommodated, the discipline plunges into crisis, culminated by a discontinuous 'paradigm shift' (revolutionary science) that redefines the fundamental worldview of researchers. His concepts of incommensurability and paradigm shifts became ubiquitous across intellectual disciplines.

Key Life Milestones

1957

The Copernican Revolution

Published his historical study of early planetary astronomy demonstrating the role of conceptual frameworks.

1962

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

Published the epochal treatise introducing paradigm shifts and transforming the philosophy of science.

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Final Resting Place

Perpetual Memorial
Mount Auburn Cemetery
Cambridge (Massachusetts), United States
GPS: 42.3705, -71.1469
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