Thomas Kuhn: The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

OskarSwindler
Published on Jul 29, 2022
An introduction to Thomas Kuhnâ€™s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, published in 1962, and itself a revolutionary approach to the philosophy of science. The book was both influential and controversial.

Born in 1922, Kuhn began his career as a physicist before turning to the history of science. He was interested in how scientists approach their daily work, and in thinking about the question of how science develops over time.

Kuhn saw sciences progressing in two alternating phases: one he called normal and the other he called extraordinary (or revolutionary).
Scientific development is traditionally thought of as simply moving faster when a discovery is made, like the discovery of bacteria, or the realisation that the earth revolves around the sun, not the other way around.
But for Kuhn, the normal and extraordinary phases of science arenâ€™t just different speeds of discovery, but fundamentally different approach to scientific work.

Normal science progresses under paradigms, but when anomalies appear, extraordinary science can lead to a paradigm shift that changes the fundamental underlying assumptions, norms and rules of scientific activity.

We can see this in the chemical revolution, when Joseph Priestly and Antoine Lavoisier weighed burning chemicals and gases and overturned the reigning phlogiston theory of combustion, replacing it with todays oxygen theory of combustion.

Then & Now is FAN-FUNDED! Support me on Patreon and pledge as little as $1 per video: http://patreon.com/user?u=3517018

Or send me a one-off tip of any amount and help me make more videos:

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=JJ76W4CZ2A8J2

Buy on Amazon through this link to support the channel:

https://amzn.to/2ykJe6L

Follow me on:

Facebook: http://fb.me/thethenandnow
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thethenandnow/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lewlewwaller

Credits:

Kuhn Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thomas-kuhn-portrait.png

Davi.trip / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)

Add to

Please Sign In or Create Account to use this feature!

Flag Video

Please Sign In or Create Account to use this feature!

Rate video

Please Sign In or Create Account to use this feature!

Rate video

Please Sign In or Create Account to use this feature!

DISCLAIMER

The content presented in this stream and/or video may be satirical in nature for entertainment purposes. It may contain realistic scenarios that may include themes of racism, anti-semitism, anti-LGBT sentiment and even elements such as death threats, all purely in the context of parody. In addition, this content may depict or refer to acts of violence in a satirical manner. Shock factor is a common and deliberate element used in these displays to emphasise the satirical message. By continuing to view this content, you acknowledge that you understand the satirical nature of this content, including the depiction of violence and the use of shock factor, and agree that you will not use or interpret this content outside of its intended context. Please remember that humour and satire are complex; they are not intended to belittle or demean, but to engage and challenge social norms through exaggeration. If you have any concerns about content, please feel free to engage in constructive dialogue or report issues to GTV staff.