Kuhns Structure of Scientific Revolutions - 50 Years On [Paperback]

In 1962, the publication of Thomas Kuhns Structure revolutionized the way one conducts philosophical and historical studies of science. Through the introduction of both memorable and controversial notions, such as paradigms, scientific revolutions, and incommensurability, Kuhn argued against the traditionally accepted notion of scientific change as a progression towards the truth about nature, and instead substituted the idea that science is a puzzle solving activity, operating under paradigms, which become discarded after it fails to respond accordingly to anomalous challenges and a rival paradigm. Kuhns Structure has sold over 1.4 million copies and the Times Literary Supplement named it one of the Hundred Most Influential Books since the Second World War. Now, fifty years after this groundbreaking work was published, this volume offers a timely reappraisal of the legacy of Kuhns book and an investigation into what Structure offers philosophical, historical, and sociological studies of science in the future.

Chapter 1: Kuhns Structure: A Moment in Modern Naturalism; Steven Shapin.- Chapter 2: Kuhn and the Historiography of Science; Alexander Bird.- Chapter 3: From Troubled Marriage to Uneasy Colocation: Thomas Kuhn, Epistemological Revolutions, Romantic Narratives, and History and Philosophy of Science; Alan Richardson.- Chapter 4: Reconsidering the Carnap-Kuhn Connection; Jonathan Tsou.- Chapter 5: The Rationality of Science in Relation to its History; Sherrilyn Roush.- Chapter 6: What Do Scientists and Engineers Do All Day??On the Structure of Scientific Normalcy; Cyrus M. Mody.- Chapter 7: From Theory Choice to Theory Search: The Essential Tension between Explanation and Exploitation in Science; Rogier De Langhe and Peter Rubbens.- Chapter 8: The Evolving Notion and Role of Kuhns Incommensurability Thesis; James A. Marcum.- Chapter 9: Walking the Line: Kuhn between Realism and Rlc3