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Thomas Kuhn was born July 18, 1922 in Cincinnati, Ohio.
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In the year of 1943 Kuhn obtained a Bachelors of Science in Physics from Harvard College and in the coming years further his education
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Kuhn was a well educated man. In 1946 he was awarded a Masters of Science in Physics. Three years later would receive his PHD.
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Thomas Kuhn married his first wife Kathryn Muhns. They had two daughters and a son. They divorced in 1978.
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Thomas Kuhn is most famous for the idea of Paradigm Shifts. A Paradigm Shift is a change in how you think or change in the approach of underlying assumptions. He believed that eventually progress stops due to these underlying assumptions and the only way to progress was to change your approach. Understanding the laws of the universe is the purpose of science but you must be flexible when in pursuit of greater knowledge. “no paradigm ever solves all the problems it defines.” (Kuhn, 1962)
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Thomas Kuhn married Jehane Barton Burns. Whom he stayed married to for the remainder of his life
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Thomas Kuhn lived until the age of 73. On June 17 1996 after a two year battle with throat and lung cancer he passed away. Even while sick and dying from lung cancer Thomas Kuhn never lost his desire to further science. While sick he was working on more concepts and ideas such as, concept acquisition in developmental psychology, and evolutionary conception of scientific change. He was the embodiment of a physicist until death.
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Thomas Kuhn is most remembered for introducing the Paradigm Shift in 1962. His ingenuity and different views are what makes him so famous today. In the spring of 2006 an award was created in Kuhn's honor. To honor the his legacy the award was created and is awarded to the researcher who best challenges the status quo.