The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

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The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

work by Kuhn

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July 14, 2026

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Thomas S. Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962) posits that scientific progress isn't a steady accumulation of knowledge. Instead, science operates within "paradigms"—shared conceptual frameworks including theories, experiments, and methods. Scientists work within a paradigm, refining it and solving puzzles.1

However, when anomalies accumulate and a paradigm proves inadequate, a crisis emerges, leading to an intellectual revolution. This revolution replaces the old paradigm with a new one, fundamentally altering scientific understanding. Examples include the shift from Ptolemaic to Copernican astronomy and from Newtonian physics to relativity. Kuhn argued these paradigm shifts are not purely rational but involve changes in standards and perspectives, making paradigms "incommensurable".12

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Thomas S. Kuhn
In his landmark second book, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, he argued that scientific research and thought are defined by “paradigms,” or conceptual world-views, that consist of formal theories, classic experiments, and trusted methods. Scientists typically accept a prevailing paradigm and try to extend its scope by refining theories, explaining…
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In his landmark second book, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, he argued that scientific research and thought are defined by “paradigms,” or conceptual world-views, that consist of formal theories, classic experiments, and trusted methods. Scientists typically accept a prevailing paradigm and try to extend its scope by refining theories, explaining…
Read More

historiography
History of science
…science has also produced, in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962), by Thomas Kuhn (1922–96), one of the most influential books by any American historian in the postwar period. Almost everybody who uses the word paradigm in any of the many senses in which Kuhn used it is indebted to…
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…science has also produced, in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962), by Thomas Kuhn (1922–96), one of the most influential books by any American historian in the postwar period. Almost everybody who uses the word paradigm in any of the many senses in which Kuhn used it is indebted to…
Read More

plate tectonics
Unanswered questions
In his famous book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962), the philosopher Thomas S. Kuhn pointed out that science does not always advance in the gradual and stately fashion commonly attributed to it. Most natural sciences begin with observations collected at random, without much regard to their significance or…
Read More
In his famous book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962), the philosopher Thomas S. Kuhn pointed out that science does not always advance in the gradual and stately fashion commonly attributed to it. Most natural sciences begin with observations collected at random, without much regard to their significance or…
Read More

philosophy of science
The work of Thomas Kuhn
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions offered a general pattern of scientific change. Inquiries in a given field start with a clash of different perspectives. Eventually one approach manages to resolve some concrete issue, and investigators concur in pursuing it—they follow the “paradigm.” Commitment to the…
Read More
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions offered a general pattern of scientific change. Inquiries in a given field start with a clash of different perspectives. Eventually one approach manages to resolve some concrete issue, and investigators concur in pursuing it—they follow the “paradigm.” Commitment to the…
Read More

innovation
Scientific innovation
In The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962), American philosopher and historian Thomas Kuhn made a distinction between what he called normal science and episodes of scientific revolution. He defined normal science as the process of solving puzzles within the paradigms currently established for one’s particular science.…
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In The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962), American philosopher and historian Thomas Kuhn made a distinction between what he called normal science and episodes of scientific revolution. He defined normal science as the process of solving puzzles within the paradigms currently established for one’s particular science.…
Read More

Hilary Putnam
Realism and meaning
Kuhn in his influential work The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962). According to Kuhn, different stages in the history of scientific thought are characterized by different scientific paradigms, or worldviews, each consisting of a body of formal theories, classic experiments, and trusted methodologies. Because the theories of a given paradigm…
Read More
Kuhn in his influential work The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962). According to Kuhn, different stages in the history of scientific thought are characterized by different scientific paradigms, or worldviews, each consisting of a body of formal theories, classic experiments, and trusted methodologies. Because the theories of a given paradigm…
Read More