Kuhn, Thomas (1922–96)

Abstract Thomas Kuhn (1922–96) was a US historian and philosopher of science; he was perhaps the most influential theorist of science in the second half of the twentieth century. Like many of his generation who were trained in physics but experienced first hand the role that its expertise played in World War II, Kuhn left the field shortly after receiving his PhD in 1946. He then joined the new “General Education in Science” program established by Harvard President James Bryant Conant. It was there that Kuhn developed the general theory of scientific change for which he is best known, according to which a science's theories and methods are dictated by a “paradigm,” which is replaced only once it accumulates too many unsolved problems. At that point, it enters a “crisis” phase that eventuates in a “revolution,” resulting in a successor paradigm.