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Birth and Life
On July 18, 1922, Thomas Kuhn was born in Cincinnati Ohio. He spent most of his young life in schools in the state of New York. Finally he graduated high school in Connecticut. After high school, Kuhn attended Harvard College where he attained a Bachelor of Science in Physics. -
Life
After graduating college, Kuhn taught at the University of California, Berkeley in 1961. (Bird) He continued to teach until 1991. Kuhn was married twice in his life to Kathryn Muhs then to Jehane Burns. He had three children during his first marriage. -
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1/2)
In 1962, Thomas Kuhn’s book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions detailed the history of science. In his book, Kuhn introduces “paradigm shifts.” (Bird) Paradigm shifts are when there is a shift in a certain area of science that may completely change what is currently studied or believed. -
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (2/2)
During a paradigm shift, some of the old theories or schools of thoughts may survive and can carry forward while others will be replaced. This caused a huge divide within the scientific community as some thought that you could only add to and not take away from a “proven” theory. -
Paradigm Shift Example
"Lavoisier saw oxygen where Priestley had seen dephlogisticated air and where others had seen nothing at all. At the least, as a result of discovering oxygen, Lavoisier saw nature differently. And in the absence of some recourse to that hypothetical fixed nature that he 'saw differently,' the principle of economy will urge us to say that after discovering oxygen Lavoisier worked in a different world." (Kuhn 118) -
Death
Thomas Kuhn was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1994 and died on June 17, 1996. -
Thomas Kuhn: His Core Ideas
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Sources
Kuhn, Thomas S. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1962. Bird, Alexander, "Thomas Kuhn", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2018 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2018/entries/thomas-kuhn/.
