My Goodreads Review
rating: 5 of 5 stars
On the basis of this book’s popularity and age, I suspected its ideas had so pervaded modern thinking that I would gain little from reading it. Not so. Though the idea of a paradigm has same vague colloquial meaning, Kuhn examines the lenses through which scientific communities view the world in a far richer way than most water cooler conversations and the resulting essay is an instructive “paradigm” itself for studying how science is done.
Kuhn introduces the concepts of “normal science”, “crises”, and “revolutionary science” and thoroughly explores their play in the development of scientific ideas. Kuhn paints a picture of the scientist as a puzzle-solver, chasing problems for the challenge and pure joy rather than societal benefit. Most scientists’ work falls into the category of “normal science” – finetuning already existent theories, exploring special cases, and measuring and testing theories to a further and further number of decimal places. Yet a few brave souls engage in “revolutionary science”. They are the scientists who start from scratch, often embracing some small inconsistency in a prevailing theory as the basis for a unique and productive new one. They are the men and women who change the way we view the world (how’s that for something to aspire to?).
Though in the postscript Kuhn warns against applying his ideas to other disciplines, I have found the framework he prevents an incredibly useful tool in analyzing any environment in which knowledge develops and is passed along.
This is one of my favorite books of all-time and is an essential read for any young scientist or science-groupie interested in how science progresses.
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