Thomas Kuhn (1922-1996), was a historian turned philosopher of science whose seminal work

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

inspired a conceptual revolution away from logical positivism towards what has been called the “historicist turn” in the philosophy of science. Unusually for a book dealing with the philosophy of science, it has had a wide-ranging impact upon many other disciplines, including the social sciences, and has been named one of the most influential books of the twentieth century.

Thomas Samuel Kuhn was born on 18 July 1922. He attended Harvard University in 1940, and chose to major in physics instead of mathematics due to what he felt were greater career opportunities in the former. He graduated summa cum lauda in 1943, and spent the next two years working in the

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Citation: Timmins, Adam . "Thomas Kuhn". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 23 June 2012 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=2565, accessed 26 November 2024.]

2565 Thomas Kuhn 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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