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Cover of The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas S. Kuhn

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

  • 210 pages ยท about 4 hours
  • First published 1962
  • 47 editions

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1 About this book

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions is a 1962 book about the history of science by the philosopher Thomas S. Kuhn. Its publication was a landmark event in the history, philosophy, and sociology of science. Kuhn challenged the then prevailing view of progress in science in which scientific progress was viewed as "development-by-accumulation" of accepted facts and theories. Kuhn argued for an episodic model in which periods of conceptual continuity and cumulative progress, referred to as periods of "normal science", were interrupted by periods of revolutionary science. The discovery of "anomalies" accumulating and precipitating revolutions in science leads to new paradigms. New paradigms then ask new questions of old data, move beyond the mere "puzzle-solving" of the previous paradigm, alter the rules of the game and change the "map" directing new research.

Summary adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Good for readers who want: science, philosophy, and history.

  • Science
  • Philosophy
  • History
  • Science, philosophy
  • Science, history
  • Progress

2 About Thomas S. Kuhn

1922โ€“1996

Thomas Samuel Kuhn (; July 18, 1922 โ€“ June 17, 1996) was an American historian and philosopher of science whose 1962 book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions was influential in both academic and popular circles. The book popularized the term paradigm shift, which has since become an English-language idiom. Alexander Bird describes the book as one of the most cited academic books of all time.

Bio adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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