Thursday, December 27, 2007
The Road Since Structure: Philosophical Essays
Thomas Kuhn's book deals with subjects that most scientists seem to neglect.
Kuhn’s treatment of paradigm shifts in the realms of Newton and
Copernicus may turn out to influence life outside of science.The
book is a compilation of his essays and an interview with him by
Aristide Baltas. Throughout the essays he tries to reconcile the
paradigm shifts with everyday science. Kuhn alerts many scientific
minds with the statement asserting that whenever science makes a
discovery, it is not always aimed at truth, but the discovery in itself
is a never-ending a paradigm shift. Almost humorously, scientists are
described as unconcerned with defining truth, defining it with error
bars.Kuhn seems to overlook the weight of work done
throughout the centuries to understand Newton’s laws, wherein he
characterizes the research by famous mathematicians and physicists, in
his words, as a limited mopping up operation.Kuhn also
claims that a scientist's socio-cultural experience influences a
paradigm shift while it is happening. This, and other exotic claims,
make the book fun and entertaining for a scientific mind.
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