Kuhn’s ‘Structure of Scientific Revolutions’ at Fifty: Reflections on a Science Classic by Robert J. Richards (PDF)

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Thomas S. Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions was a watershed event when it was published in 1962, upending the previous understanding of science as a slow, logical accumulation of facts and introducing, with the concept of the “paradigm shift,” social and psychological considerations into the heart of the scientific process. More than fifty years after its publication, Kuhn’s work continues to influence thinkers in a wide range of fields, including scientists, historians, and sociologists. It is clear that The Structure of Scientific Revolutions itself marks no less of a paradigm shift than those it describes. In Kuhn’s “Structure of Scientific Revolutions” at Fifty, leading social scientists and philosophers explore the origins of Kuhn’s masterwork and its legacy fifty years on. These essays exhume important historical context for Kuhn’s work, critically analyzing its foundations in twentieth-century science, politics, and Kuhn’s own intellectual biography: his experiences as a physics graduate student, his close relationship with psychologists before and after the publication of Structure, and the Cold War framework of terms such as “world view” and “paradigm.”

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: Review “There is much that is new and intriguing in this diverse volume. Some chapters invite us “inside the head” of Kuhn, through personal memories of his unique pedagogical style, his letters and notebooks, and his “Aristotle experience.” Others explore how psychological theories, Kuhn’s scientific work on radar during World War II, and the Cold War culture influenced Kuhn’s philosophy. Still others focus on the text itself, examining how Kuhn redefined key concepts, including paradigms, revolutions, exemplars, and progress….Reflecting on the paradigm shift that Kuhn’s influential book initiated gives us new insight into the current and future state of science studies.” ― Science“Few books leave a wake like physicist-turned-historian Thomas Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. These essays on that classic, edited by science historians Richards and Daston, emanate from a 2012 commemorative conference. It’s a scholarly treat, from George Reisch probing the cold-war roots of Kuhn’s provocations on dogma, to David Kaiser tracing the experimental psychology in his philosophical claims.” ― Nature”Contains well-written essays by significant historians and philosophers that provide critical discourse on groundbreaking work and offer new ways to contextualize Kuhn’s own work. Along with fresh insight, a few essays provide personal recollections of Kuhn, while others make use of his correspondence and other records to examine the impact of the times (such as the Cold War culture) on his work. Some scholars delve into Kuhn’s influence on disciplines like psychology and examine the notion of his idea of paradigms and scientific revolutions. Using citation indexes, other essays trace the historical frequency of The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. This edited volume is extremely valuable to advanced researchers in every area of academic study—especially for individuals examining any facet of the history of this type of knowledge. This work is highly recommended for research institutions.” ― Choice”Kuhn’s Structure of Scientific Revolutions is one of the most important books in the last hundred years. His language and concepts have permeated contemporary thought and his arguments are still alive and of real importance. What a great idea to have a fiftieth birthday for it! The selection of celebrants is top-notch, and, as is fitting, they are not simply kneeling at the feet of Kuhn, but critically engaging with his work.” ― Cheryl Misak, University of Toronto”Thomas Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions is one of the most important and influential books ever written about the nature of science, directing the thinking of philosophers, historians, and above all social scientists. Celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of its publication, Kuhn’s Structure of Scientific Revolutions at Fifty, edited by leading science scholars Richards and Daston, does a splendid job of taking us from the genesis of Kuhn’s book, through its immediate influences, and on to assessments of its lasting worth. For those interested in the nature of science, this collection is essential reading.” ― Michael Ruse, Florida State University”Kuhn’s Structure of Scientific Revolutions at Fifty: Reflections on a Science Classic is an important contribution to a topic of utmost importance: where we came from, how our past changed and evolved through Thomas Kuhn’s unexpected influence; though there is still much work to do in order to understand how Kuhn became Kuhn, whether Kuhn made Kuhn or whether it was the scientific community, the book is an excellent starting point.” ― Journal for General Philosophy of Science”The fiftieth anniversary of Kuhn’s Structure generated so many books and symposia by philosophers that this reviewer found the present volume a refreshing change. The authors are generally skeptical of the more common interpretations of Kuhn offered by both philosophers and sociologists of scientific knowledge. Most of the nine authors are historians (some of whom have worked in the Kuhn archive), and the three philosophers included have all done serious historical research.” ― Metascience About the Author Robert J. Richards is the Morris Fishbein Distinguished Service Professor of the History of Science and Medicine; professor in the Departments of History, Philosophy, and Psychology and in the Committee on Conceptual and Historical Studies of Science; and director of the Fishbein Center for the History of Science and Medicine, all at the University of Chicago. Lorraine Daston is director of the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin and is visiting professor in the Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago.

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐The discussions provide one of the best and diverse sets of analyses of Kuhn’s (1962) classic study, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (SSR). Examples include his service in the military as the expert in charge of blocking radar effectiveness against U.S. bombers during WWII and his commitment, following James Bryant Conant, of our nation’s need to be scientifically educated. This would help our nation’s culture and decisions be guided mostly by reliable facts. Our nation’s failure to adequately achieve such knowledge is reflected in the fact that recent data indicate that over 810,000 American have died due to infection by COVID-19. On this failure, for example see A. Slavitt, 2021, Preventable: The inside story of how leadership failures, politics, and selfishness doomed the U.S. coronavirus response.This book (2016), Kuhn’s Structure of Scientific Revolutions at Fifty, is not for persons who want simple answers. But I found no chapter that was not informative. For persons interested in the meaning of paradigms, see especially chapters 5 by Ian Hacking, 6 by Lorraine Daston., and 8 by Angela N. Creager. I have studied Kuhn’s work and legacy since the late 1980s. In my view Kuhn’s work is essential reading for anyone who wants to increase an understand science and its essential value for our nation and the world. Although the authors in this book indicate that no one has yet adequately explained Kuhn’s approach, his work remains a source of wisdom.I believe that his clearest definition of paradigms is in the preface of SSR. In the 2nd edition (1970), this definition is on page viii: [Paradigms are] “. . . scientific achievements that for a time provide model problems and solutions to a community of practitioners.” This definition has four essential components: paradigms are based on “scientific achievements.” They are effective for varying periods of time: “for a time.” At the core of his paradigms are “model problems and solutions.” These models guide the work of “a community of practitioners,” who may study any field of science, e.g., astronomy, physics, chemistry, neurobiology, etc.

⭐For anyone already familiar with Kuhn’s work this book is nothing revolutionary. What it is, however, is an intimate look into Kuhn’s world through the eyes of those in his close academic circle. As a scholarly work it lacks in revelation but its real power lies in the anecdotal explanations of Kuhn’s “paradigm shifts” and “incommensurability.” Best used as a companion to “Structure.”

⭐I got very little from most of the articles in this book regarding the status of Kuhn’s novel idea. They seemed quite short on substantive detail.

⭐This book fails to mention Kuhn’s far more complete and philosophically plausible historical tale, The Copernican Revolution (1959), and a later pluralistic epistemological thesis in ‘Rationality, Objectivity and Scientific Change’, 1977, both of which are very much at odds with the Structure, which is episodic and historiographically false in its content and received interpretation.

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