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The philosopher was born on July 18, 1922 in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States [1]
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Detailed videos of the life, and an account of the significance of Thomas Kuhn's works can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOGZEZ96ynI, Part 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQPsc55zsXA, Part 2 -
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His dissertation thesis was in solid-state physics, and the application of quantum mechanics to atomic properties of matter. Despite his education in science, however, Kuhn was enamored with the Humanities, which motivated him to later begin his career as a philosopher, and historian of science. [1]
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This is the first book that Kuhn wrote, and it fits nicely with his idea of 'shifting paradigms'. In this book Kuhn evaluates the change in the word view that was necessary to transition from the geocentric model of the Universe, to the now accepted Heliocentric model, which replaces the Earth with the Sun in the center of the Universe. Kuhn shows that the revolution that was undertaken is anything but irrelevant to the reality of the dynamic nature of science, even today. [2]
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In this book Kuhn attacks the notion of scientific change as a linear process of changing knowledge. Kuhn proposed the idea of paradigms, or current scientific traditions, which undergo drastic and discontinuous "shifts" in reason which may revolutionize how we see the world around us. These shifts are the driver of scientific revolutions, and result from repeated failures of current scientific methods to yield a solution to a pressing problem. [3] This is one of his most important works.
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In this essay Kuhn attacks the premise of complete objectivity in scientific contexts, and poses that dogma, and presumptions are often involved in scientific research, whether theoretical, or experimental. [4]
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A collection of 14 essays, all but two previously published. In these essays Kuhn continues to build onto his philosophical understandings of science. He builds on 'The Structure of Scientific Revolutions', 'Simultaneous Discoveries', and provides an insight into his transition from being a physicist to a historian and a philosopher of science. Though, mostly a secondary book, in terms of the development of his theories, it provides a solid account of the development of his views of science. [5]
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The philosopher died on June 17, 1996, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. [1]