The Structure of Scientific Revolutions: 50th Anniversary Edition Author: Visit Amazon's Thomas S. Kuhn Page | Language: English | ISBN:
0226458113 | Format: EPUB
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions: 50th Anniversary Edition Description
Review
“Like Thomas Kuhn, Ian Hacking has a gift for clear exposition. His introduction provides a helpful guide to some of the thornier philosophical issues. . . . We may still admire Kuhn’s dexterity in broaching challenging ideas with a fascinating mix of examples from psychology, history, philosophy, and beyond. We need hardly agree with each of Kuhn’s propositions to enjoy—and benefit from—this classic book.”
(David Kaiser
Nature)
"The Structure of Scientific Revolutions did a gestalt flip on just about every assumption about the who, how, and what of scientific progress. . . . The book still vibrates our culture’s walls like a trumpet call. History of science may not have become exactly what Kuhn thought it should, but The Structure of Scientific Revolutions knocked it off its existing tracks.”
(
Chronicle of Higher Education)
“So long as there are still paradigms among us, the achievements of Thomas Kuhn will be remembered.”
(
National Post (Canada))
“One of the most influential books of the 20th century. . . . Singlehandedly changed the way we think about mankind’s most organized attempt to understand the world.”
(
Guardian)
“The Kuhnian image of science has reshaped our understanding of the scientific enterprise and human inquiry in general. If you haven’t already read The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, the publication of this inexpensive 50th-anniversary edition offers a perfect excuse to do so.”
(
Science)
About the Author
Thomas S. Kuhn (1922–96) was the Laurence Rockefeller Professor of linguistics and philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His books include The Essential Tension; Black-Body Theory and the Quantum Discontinuity, 1894–1912; and The Copernican Revolution.
- Hardcover: 264 pages
- Publisher: University Of Chicago Press; 4 Anv edition (April 30, 2012)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0226458113
- ISBN-13: 978-0226458113
- Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
As a practicing scientist and someone who has always been interested in history and the development of scientific ideas "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions" has for long time been the book that loomed large on my intellectual horizon. Thomas Kuhn's book has for a long time had a reputation as the definitive and seminal work on understanding how new scientific ideas come about and how and why they gain support. Part of my reluctance to start reading this book stemmed from my belief that it would be an overly philosophical work, with a lot of opaque technical jargon, and with very little relevance to actual scientific practice. However, to my great surprise and delight, nothing could be farther from the truth. This book is written in a very matter-of-fact style, and it is easy to understand what Kuhn is getting at. His own background in science and history of science probably made him very sensitive to the working and thinking of practicing scientists.
The insights that Kuhn has arrived at are still relevant almost half a century after this book has been published. The idea of "paradigm shifts" has even entered the mainstream consciousness, to the point that it can be caricatured in various cartoons and silly t-shirts. However, after reading this book it is not quite clear to me whether Khun wanted this to be a description of the way that science works, or more of a normative prescription for how to arrive at truly fundamental changes in some scientific discipline. This is particularly relevant for disciplines or directions of research that seem to have gotten stuck in some dead end, as has been the case with particle physics for several decades.
Since "Structure" is considered by many to be the most important or influential work of philosophy of science, there is little reason to write a review about Kuhn's text, itself. The vaunted monograph is, after all, touted as being the most cited text of any intellectual work in the latter part of the twentieth century; not to mention my personal opinion, that it is among the most important works ever written. Instead, I will review the edition and the introduction by Ian Hacking. The only thing that comes to mind to say about the edition is that the text in some printings of the third edition has lettering that is wide and appears a little smudged. The text in the fourth edition appears much cleaner. As far as Ian Hacking's introduction, which is as much a tribute to the work as it is an introduction, I have found, is well worth updating from an early edition, if not replacing the older edition, then serving as a lovely complement. The reason I am of such an opinion, despite having very different views from Hacking's --then again, who actual agrees with anyone else's opinion of what Kuhn meant?--, is that Hacking places Kuhn's work into historical perspective, noting, to some extent, where history and philosophy of science was before Kuhn and, then, where history and philosophy of science was afterward. The introduction is a wonderfully compelling argument advancing the idea that everyone should be interested in reading: scientist, philosopher, historian, sociologist, anthropologist, and so on.
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