The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
by: Thomas S. Kuhn
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There's a "Frank & Ernest" comic strip showing a chickbreaking out of its shell, looking around, and saying, "Oh, wow!Paradigm shift!" Blame the late Thomas Kuhn. Few indeed are thephilosophers or historians influential enough to make it into thefunny papers, but Kuhn is one.
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions is indeed aparadigmatic work in the history of science. Kuhn's use of terms suchas "paradigm shift" and "normal science," his ideas of how scientistsmove from disdain through doubt to acceptance of a new theory, hisstress on social and psychological factors in science--all have hadprofound effects on historians, scientists, philosophers, critics,writers, business gurus, and even the cartoonist in the street.
Some scientists (such as Steven Weinberg and Ernst Mayr) areprofoundly irritated by Kuhn, especially by the doubts he casts--orthe wayhis work has been used to cast doubt--on the idea ofscientific progress. Yet it has been said that the acceptance of platetectonics in the 1960s, for instance, was sped by geologists'reluctance to be on the downside of a paradigm shift. Even Weinberghas said that "Structure has had a wider influence than anyother book on the history of science." As one of Kuhn's obituariesnoted, "We all live in a post-Kuhnian age." --Mary Ellen Curtin
Product Description:
There's a "Frank & Ernest" comic strip showing a chickbreaking out of its shell, looking around, and saying, "Oh, wow!Paradigm shift!" Blame the late Thomas Kuhn. Few indeed are thephilosophers or historians influential enough to make it into thefunny papers, but Kuhn is one.
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions is indeed aparadigmatic work in the history of science. Kuhn's use of terms suchas "paradigm shift" and "normal science," his ideas of how scientistsmove from disdain through doubt to acceptance of a new theory, hisstress on social and psychological factors in science--all have hadprofound effects on historians, scientists, philosophers, critics,writers, business gurus, and even the cartoonist in the street.
Some scientists (such as Steven Weinberg and Ernst Mayr) areprofoundly irritated by Kuhn, especially by the doubts he casts--orthe wayhis work has been used to cast doubt--on the idea ofscientific progress. Yet it has been said that the acceptance of platetectonics in the 1960s, for instance, was sped by geologists'reluctance to be on the downside of a paradigm shift. Even Weinberghas said that "Structure has had a wider influence than anyother book on the history of science." As one of Kuhn's obituariesnoted, "We all live in a post-Kuhnian age." --Mary Ellen Curtin
Product Description:
Thomas S. Kuhn's classic book is now available with a new index.
"A landmark in intellectual history which has attracted attention far
beyond its own immediate field. . . . It is written with a combination
of depth and clarity that make it an almost unbroken series of
aphorisms. . . . Kuhn does not permit truth to be a criterion of
scientific theories, he would presumably not claim his own theory to be
true. But if causing a revolution is the hallmark of a superior
paradigm, [this book] has been a resounding success." —Nicholas Wade,
Science
"Perhaps the best explanation of [the] process of discovery." —William
Erwin Thompson, New York Times Book Review
"Occasionally there emerges a book which has an influence far beyond its
originally intended audience. . . . Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of
Scientific Revolutions . . . has clearly emerged as just such a
work." —Ron Johnston, Times Higher Education Supplement
"Among the most influential academic books in this century." —
Choice
—One of "The Hundred Most Influential Books Since the Second World
War," Times Literary Supplement
Thomas S. Kuhn was the Laurence Rockefeller Professor Emeritus of
linguistics and philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
His books include The Essential Tension; Black-Body Theory and the
Quantum Discontinuity, 1894-1912; and The Copernican
Revolution.
"A landmark in intellectual history which has attracted attention far
beyond its own immediate field. . . . It is written with a combination
of depth and clarity that make it an almost unbroken series of
aphorisms. . . . Kuhn does not permit truth to be a criterion of
scientific theories, he would presumably not claim his own theory to be
true. But if causing a revolution is the hallmark of a superior
paradigm, [this book] has been a resounding success." —Nicholas Wade,
Science
"Perhaps the best explanation of [the] process of discovery." —William
Erwin Thompson, New York Times Book Review
"Occasionally there emerges a book which has an influence far beyond its
originally intended audience. . . . Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of
Scientific Revolutions . . . has clearly emerged as just such a
work." —Ron Johnston, Times Higher Education Supplement
"Among the most influential academic books in this century." —
Choice
—One of "The Hundred Most Influential Books Since the Second World
War," Times Literary Supplement
Thomas S. Kuhn was the Laurence Rockefeller Professor Emeritus of
linguistics and philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
His books include The Essential Tension; Black-Body Theory and the
Quantum Discontinuity, 1894-1912; and The Copernican
Revolution.
Alternate Versions:
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- Conjectures and Refutations: The Growth of Scientific Knowledge (Routledge Classics)
- An Introductory Guide to Post-Structuralism and Postmodernism
- The Road since Structure: Philosophical Essays, 1970-1993, with an Autobiographical Interview
- see more
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- Kuhn's work remains a must read for honest seekers of solutions to science's puzzles
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas S. Kuhn, originally published in 1962, is more relevant today than ever before. Anyone with an open mind, craving the most plausible answers to many scientific puzzles, will greatly enhance their understanding of how science actually works if they read this ground-breaking work.
I first read the book in 1972 as part of a Philosophy course that explored human thought over the centuries relative to concepts such as "Space, Time, Cause and ... Read More
Rating: - Scientific Revolutions
This book is widely used for doctoral programs in social sciences. Overall, it's a well-written book, but the author uses the term "paradigm" for several different concepts. If you can find a good summary of this book, just go for that one.
Rating: - Review of Kuhn
I enjoy the reading. I have used Kuhn as a reference throughout grad school to justify my thoughts on leadership paradigm shifts. Kuhn's contribution had four positive elements: a) Mechanism of crisis: precipitation and resolution, b) Analogy of the historicity of science with evolution c) that science rewrites its own history, and d) psychology of paradigm shifts; that the paradigm is not completely defined by explicit prescription but also by a system of practices that are not fully articulated. In ... Read More
Rating: - Not Just for Those Interested in Science
Essential reading in understanding why the Enlightenment ideal of rationality is dead or at least doesn't countin ways that matter.In particular, Kuhn calls into question the idea of science as a rational enterprise, and since science is epistemologically privileged and thought to be the essence of rationality, to call into question the rationality of science is to call into question rationality itself.This is different, I submit, than the anti-rationality of the deconstructionists (e.g., Derrida), ... Read More
Rating: 
- Important, but Over-rated
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions is an important book, because it helped people view scientific progress in a new light, and introduced us to the important concept of paradigm shift.Unfortunately, however, the book is poorly written, with a dense and overly academic style, and quite frankly, is very, very, boring.Good concept, poor execution.
- Kuhn's work remains a must read for honest seekers of solutions to science's puzzlesThe Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas S. Kuhn, originally published in 1962, is more relevant today than ever before. Anyone with an open mind, craving the most plausible answers to many scientific puzzles, will greatly enhance their understanding of how science actually works if they read this ground-breaking work.
I first read the book in 1972 as part of a Philosophy course that explored human thought over the centuries relative to concepts such as "Space, Time, Cause and ... Read More
- Scientific RevolutionsThis book is widely used for doctoral programs in social sciences. Overall, it's a well-written book, but the author uses the term "paradigm" for several different concepts. If you can find a good summary of this book, just go for that one.
- Review of KuhnI enjoy the reading. I have used Kuhn as a reference throughout grad school to justify my thoughts on leadership paradigm shifts. Kuhn's contribution had four positive elements: a) Mechanism of crisis: precipitation and resolution, b) Analogy of the historicity of science with evolution c) that science rewrites its own history, and d) psychology of paradigm shifts; that the paradigm is not completely defined by explicit prescription but also by a system of practices that are not fully articulated. In ... Read More
- Not Just for Those Interested in ScienceEssential reading in understanding why the Enlightenment ideal of rationality is dead or at least doesn't countin ways that matter.In particular, Kuhn calls into question the idea of science as a rational enterprise, and since science is epistemologically privileged and thought to be the essence of rationality, to call into question the rationality of science is to call into question rationality itself.This is different, I submit, than the anti-rationality of the deconstructionists (e.g., Derrida), ... Read More
- Important, but Over-ratedThe Structure of Scientific Revolutions is an important book, because it helped people view scientific progress in a new light, and introduced us to the important concept of paradigm shift.Unfortunately, however, the book is poorly written, with a dense and overly academic style, and quite frankly, is very, very, boring.Good concept, poor execution.
