The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

Thomas S. Kuhn

pri 2012 · University of Chicago Press

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“One of the most influential books of the 20th century,” the landmark study in the history of science with a new introduction by philosopher Ian Hacking (Guardian, UK).

First published in 1962, Thomas Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions ”reshaped our understanding of the scientific enterprise and human inquiry in general.” In it, he challenged long-standing assumptions about scientific progress, arguing that transformative ideas don’t arise from the gradual process of experimentation and data accumulation, but instead occur outside of “normal science.” Though Kuhn was writing when physics ruled the sciences, his ideas on how scientific revolutions bring order to the anomalies that amass over time in research experiments are still instructive in today’s biotech age (Science).

This new edition of Kuhn’s essential work includes an insightful introduction by Ian Hacking, which clarifies terms popularized by Kuhn, including “paradigm” and “incommensurability,” and applies Kuhn’s ideas to the science of today. Usefully keyed to the separate sections of the book, Hacking’s introduction provides important background information as well as a contemporary context. This newly designed edition also includes an expanded and updated index.

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Thomas S. Kuhn (1922–96) was the Laurence Rockefeller Professor 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.