When Thomas Kuhn wrote The Structure of Scientific Revolutions in the early 1960's, he wanted to examine the history of science for clues to the nature of discovery. The clues led him to invent the term - now a cliche - Paradigm Shift. Scientists work with one set of ideas about how the world is. Everything they do, be it experimental or theoretical work, is informed by, and framed within, that set of ideas. There will some evidence that doesn't fit, however. At first, that evidence will be ignored or sabotaged. Eventually, though, the anomalies will pile up so high that they simply cannot be ignored or sabotaged any longer. Then comes crisis.
Crisis, Kuhn said, is soon followed by the paradigm shift in which everyone gains a radically new way of looking at the world ...
Your task is to:
- look up the definition of paradigm shift
- find a scientific theory, discovery or invention that you view as inducing a paradigm shift in the way that man thought or acted. This can from any point in history.
- write a description of your chosen idea and explain how and why it caused a paradigm shift. Post this description/explanation.
- post a response to one or more of your classmates ideas. This should be in a separate post to #3.
Both posts are due before your leave for spring break.
