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The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

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The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

By: Thomas S. Kuhn
Narrated by: Dennis Holland
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About this listen

A good book may have the power to change the way we see the world, but a great book actually becomes part of our daily consciousness, pervading our thinking to the point that we take it for granted, and we forget how provocative and challenging its ideas once were - and still are. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions is that kind of book. When it was first published in 1962, it was a landmark event in the history and philosophy of science. Fifty years later, it still has many lessons to teach.

With The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Kuhn challenged long-standing linear notions of scientific progress, arguing that transformative ideas don't arise from the day-to-day, gradual process of experimentation and data accumulation but that the revolutions in science, those breakthrough moments that disrupt accepted thinking and offer unanticipated ideas, occur outside of "normal science", as he called it. Though Kuhn was writing when physics ruled the sciences, his ideas on how scientific revolutions bring order to the anomalies that amass over time in research experiments are still instructive in our biotech age.

Note: This new edition of Kuhn's essential work in the history of science includes an insightful introduction by Ian Hacking, which clarifies terms popularized by Kuhn, including paradigm and incommensurability, and applies Kuhn's ideas to the science of today.

©1996 The University of Chicago (P)2009 Audible, Inc.
History History & Commentary Philosophy Physics World
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Critic reviews

"A landmark in intellectual history which has attracted attention far beyond its own immediate field." ( Science)
"Perhaps the best explanation of [the] process of discovery." ( New York Times Book Review)

What listeners say about The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

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very interesting

extremely interesting ideas about how scientific thought changes and the dynamics that are involved in such a process

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5 people found this helpful

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Useful

Valuable. Helped me to think better about how groups change, and the way we think about science.

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You're not a scientist!

Well most until you've read this and taken it all in. Science is less about proof and move about the evolution of ideas about the world we inhabit. And that's Paradigmatic.

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1 person found this helpful

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I should have read this 40 years ago.

I thought that I was educated and understand science etc. I have degrees enough but this certainly should have been included in of them.

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1 person found this helpful

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Brilliantly performed

Slow to start and end. The core of it is good and relatively clear. But the knowedge / insight to hours ratio is low. Brilliantly narrated.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Essential reading for thoughtful people

This is a work which is often quoted, but probably less often read and understood. It introduced the term "paradigm shift" to our conceptual world, and was instrumental in shaping contemporary philosophy of science.
However, I feel it is overdue a return to prominence. I want current scientistic positivists (for example, Richard Dawkins) to read and deeply consider this essay. Its subtleties and cultural relevance have perhaps been forgotten of late.
This is a work which might be challenging for those unfamiliar with scientific or philosophical writing. I feel that the narrator doesn't understand what he is reading, and this can be very distracting in a work that is complex and involved. However, there is so little primary philosophical literature available as unabridged audiobook, especially from the 20th and 21st centuries, that we just have to take what we can get.
A must-read for anyone interested in philosophy or history of science.

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Classic, thought-provoking but unnecessarly long

Narrator a bit weird in his intonations. A very interesting read although the head points could certainly have been deliverad much more succinctly.

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Very interesting study of science over the ages...

A comprehensive overview of scientific 'breakthroughs' that helps us question and challenge the inflated confidence that we as a society have in science.

I wouldn't necessarily recommend it for a lay-person as it is a little heavier than some other texts I have read that are slightly more accessible but it is essential reading for those that are in to that sort of thing (as I am someone that reads science books for enjoyment).

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5 people found this helpful

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Altogether excellent

A beautifully clear and intelligent reading of a great book. Highly topical in 2020, when scientists and politicians are presenting Science as a monolith of certainty.

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3 people found this helpful

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Anyone that is a scientist should listen to this.

I read this as an undergraduate studying for a science degree. I sets a bedrock for what science does and is.

50 years later as I listen to politicians saying they are "following the science" (during COVID) brings home how scientifically illiterate we have become.

Modelling and behavioural psychology are not science.

As Michael Crichton (author of Jurassic Park) said, "if its science, it's not consensus, if its consensus, it's not science".

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4 people found this helpful