The Structure of Scientific Revolutions ,i*'n'*'ipffiii,ll r\ ;,L;' " \1* " ou;#, *,7,,/ {^dyl ,hryP 45- itn je{ ffiln,t+ l' <d{n\ szr r q(t ? )-Lr, | +?," \. i' J ttue s^ct *{L, yfrlyg n,., [...]... today If theseout -of- datebeliefs are to be called myths, then myths can be produced by the samesorts of methodsand held for the samesorts of reasons that now lead to scientific knowledge.If, on the other hand, has included bodies then science they trre to be called science, of belief quite incompatiblewith the oneswe hold today Given the thesealternatives, historian must choosethe latter Out -of- 2 A lnlroduction:... or anothe-r Epi -of Aristotelian, or PiatoniJtheory One group togk light to ",rr""rr, be pariicles emanatingfrom m-aterialbodies; for another it was -lodifi"ation of the riedium that intervenedbetween the body " and the eye; still another explainedlight in-terms of an inter-"tt 'the from the eye; and medium with action of "*atation and modificationsbesides.Each there were other combinations of the colrespondingschoolsderived... afrect the structure of postrevolutionary textbooksand researchpublications One such effect-a shift in the distribution of the technical literature cited in the footnotes to researchreports-ought to be studied as a possibleindex to the occurrence revolutions of The needfor drasticcondensation alsoforced me to forehas go discussionof a number of maior problems My distinction betweenthe pre- and the post-paradigm... in scientificdevelopment associated with the namesof Copernicus, Newton, Lavoisier,and Einstein More clearly than most other episodes the histoqy of at least the physical sciences, in these display what all scientiftcrevolutionsare about Each of them necessitatedthe community's rejection of one time-honored scientifictheory in favor of another incompatiblewith it Each produceda consequent shift in the. .. essavas scientific revolutions. They are the tradition-shatteringcomplements to the tradition-boundactivity of normal science] The most obviousexamples scientificrevolutionsare those of famousepisodes scientiftcdevelopmentthat have often been in labeled revelutions before Therefore, in SectionsIX and X, where the nature of scientificrevolutionsis ffrst directly scrutinized, we shall deal repeatedlywith the. .. reception of a single paradigm At Ieast this was the casebetween the time, a cJntury an{a half lgo, -whe1 the institutional pattern of scientiffc specialization first developedand the vgry recent time when the piraphernalia of specializationacquired a prestigeof their own The more rigid deftnition of the scientific soup has other consequences the individual scientistcin take a para{hen dign{o-r-Stqt-r$,... sharedparadigm can be asstrmed and who prove to bJthe only onesable to read the papersadto dressed them or booksare usually e_ither.texts retroToday in the sciences, uPon one asPector anotherof the scientific spectivereflections life The scientistwhb writes one is more likely to find his professionalreputation impaired than enhanced.Onlf in the earlier, pre-paiadigm,stagesof the developmentof the various... unequivocaland so binding as the onesnamedabove.Acquisition of a paradigm and of the more esoterictype of researchit permits is a sign of maturity in the development any given scienof tific field If the historiantracesthe scientificknowledgeof any selected group of related phenomenabackward in time, he is likely to encountersomeminor variant of a pattern here illustratedfrom the history of physicaloptics.Today'sphysicstextbooks... revolutionary, becauseit is iust the pbssibilityof relating their structureto that of, say ,the Copernican revolution that makes the extended conception seem to me so important The preceding discussionindicates how the complementary notionsbf normal science and of scien- revolutionary competition between the proponents of the old normal -scientific tradition and the adherents the new one It of mies is available... the first time enabledto take the foundationsof their field for granted.From that point they pushedon to more concreteand reconditeproblems,and increasinglythey then reported their resultsin articlesaddressed other electricians to rather than in booksaddressed the learnedworld at large.As a group they to achievedwhat had been gained by astronomers antiquity in 2l fhe Sfrucfure ol ScientificRevolulions . reserved. Third edition 1996 Printed in the United States of America 050403020100 345 ISBN: 0-2 2 6-4 580 7-5 (cloth) ISBN : 0-2 2 6-4 580 8-3 (paPer) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication. Cataloging-in-Publication Data Kuhn, Thomas S. The structurc of scientific revolutions / Thomas S. Kuhn. - 3rd ed& apos; p.cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-2 264580 7-5 (cloth. If these out -of- date be- liefs are to be called myths, then myths can be produced by the same sorts of methods and held for the same sorts of reasons that now lead to scientific