The Cognitive Structure of Scientific Revolutions [Paperback]

This book, first published in 2006, evaluates Kuhn's most influential ideas using theories developed by cognitive scientists.Thomas Kuhn's Structure of Scientific Revolutions became the most widely read book about science in the twentieth century. In this book, first published in 2006, the theories of concepts developed by cognitive scientists are used to evaluate and extend Kuhn's most influential ideas.Thomas Kuhn's Structure of Scientific Revolutions became the most widely read book about science in the twentieth century. In this book, first published in 2006, the theories of concepts developed by cognitive scientists are used to evaluate and extend Kuhn's most influential ideas.Thomas Kuhn's Structure of Scientific Revolutions became the most widely read book about science in the twentieth century. His terms 'paradigm' and 'scientific revolution' entered everyday speech, but they remain controversial. In the second half of the twentieth century, the new field of cognitive science combined empirical psychology, computer science, and neuroscience. In this book, the theories of concepts developed by cognitive scientists are used to evaluate and extend Kuhn's most influential ideas. Based on case studies of the Copernican revolution, the discovery of nuclear fission, and an elaboration of Kuhn's famous 'ducks and geese' example of concept learning, this volume, first published in 2006, offers accounts of the nature of normal and revolutionary science, the function of anomalies, and the nature of incommensurability.1. Revolutions in science and science studies; 2. Kuhn's theory of concepts; 3. Representing concepts by means of dynamic frames; 4. Scientific change; 5. Incommensurability; 6. The Copernican revolution; 7. Realism, history and cognitive studies of science. Does the proposal for a newly cognitivized Kuhnian approach work? Can it offer the historian of science a useful set of tools? For this reviewer the answer is clearly Yes, though much remains to be donlÃ~