Thomas Kuhn

1922-1996 Kuhn, Thomas

American historian and philosopher of science noted for The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962), in which he argued that scientific research is defined by “paradigms,” 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 puzzling data, and establishing more precise measures until their efforts expose inadequacies or contradict it altogether. This triggers a crisis that can only be resolved by an intellectual revolution that replaces an old paradigm with a new one.