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Birth
Born in Cincinatti, Ohio to a father who was a hydraulic engineer and a mother who an educator (Nickles). -
The Copernican Revolution is published
Thomas Kuhn's first book is published in 1957 and is titled The Copernican Revolution. It is a product of his lectures during his time as an assistant and grad student at Harvard University. This work is the first evidence of his interest in "revolutionary cognitive shifts"(Nickles). -
The Structure of Scientific Revolution is published.
The Structure of Scientific Revolution is published in 1962. The work is considered to have greatly damaged logical empiricism. It explains Kuhn's definition of normal science and paradigms and his theory that scientific revolutions happen when one paradigm falls apart and another takes its place (Godfrey-Smith). Here is an educational video that does a great job explaining his theory and includes examples: Thomas Kuhn -
A postscript The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
Kuhn added a postscript to the 1970 edition of The Structure of Scientific Revolutions that clarified his different worlds approach, addressed his critics, and defined paradigm after his vague use in the first edition. He explained that difference between an exemplar as an achievement that necessitates further study and disciplinary matrix as essentially the system for a scientific discipline (Nickles). -
Black-Body Theory and the Quantum Discontinuity: 1894-1912 is published.
Another historical work is published by Thomas Kuhn in 1978 called Black-Body Theory and the Quantum Discontinuity: 1894-1912. In this work, Kuhn argues that the founder of quantum theory is not Max Planck but actually by Einstein and Ehrenfest by accident while studying Planck's work (Nickles). -
Died
Thomas Kuhn lost his battle to cancer (Nickles).