مرکز منطقه ای اطلاع رساني علوم و فناوري - THOMAS KUHN: ON THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION OF THE STRUCTURE OF SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTIONS

Abstract :

Kuhn draws a distinction between normal science and revolutionary science. Normal science refers to “puzzle-solving” science that scientists carry out on a daily basis. Revolutionary science, as the name implies, consists of those much rarer occasions when a significant shift is made in scientific thinking. Essentially scientific revolutions mark the acceptance of a new paradigm in place of the old theories. This is perhaps most plainly illustrated by the Copernican revolution whereby the Ptolemaic view of an earthcentered universe was replaced by Copernicus’ heliocentric theory. Scientific revolutions are characterized by the controversial rejection of the old theory, effectively rendered incompatible with the new theory, and the proliferation of a new set of scientific problems for scientists to reflect on. Revolutionary science does not just spring from nowhere or out of the unprecedented brilliance of one or a few scientists. It is the result of a continual process of “anomaly accumulation”, “novelty recognition”, and “crisis”. This paper is interested in Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions so as to describe shortly the scientific cycle of normal science and revolutionary science through these terms on the 50th anniversary edition of the book.