CLST 214 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Thomas Kuhn, John Naughton, Normal Science
14 Sep 2016
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Thomas kuhn: the man who changed the way the world looked at science by john naughton. Aug 1962, thomas kuhn published the structure of scientific revolutions. Changed the way we think about mankind"s most organised attempt to understand the world. Before kuhn, view of science was mostly philosophical. Whig interpretation: researchers, theorists and experimenters lead towards greater understanding of the natural world. Kuhn"s difference: saw discontinuity a set of alternating normal and revolutionary phases in which communities of specialists in particular fields are plunged into periods of turmoil, uncertainty and angst. Example of revolutionary phases: newtonian mechanics to quantum physics. Was controversial at time because it challenged assumptions about how science did/should work. Kuhn was a physicists from harvard, not philosopher. Kuhn first studied old scientific texts when teaching a course on science for humanities. To us, aristotle seemed to know nothing, but we know that he did during his time.
