Thomas Kuhn 1922-1994

“The Structure of Scientific

Revolutions” 1962
 PARADIGM

An overall model of a particular problem on

which a number of theories are based.
Max Planck

• “A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing

its opponents and making them see the light, but rather
because its opponents eventually die, and a new
generation grows up that is familiar with it.”
Kuhn (1)
1. Kuhn’s History of Science
Descriptive Project:
Immature Science
Revolution

Normal Science

Crisis

Anomalies
Paradigm Diagram
old paradigm unexplained observations competing new
paradigms
inc
ate ommen
sur

puzzle one dominant paradigm

solving Mopping up
operation

unsolved puzzles unexplained observations

ignored
unexplained observations
and alternative
interpretation ignored
until enough accumulates
to overturn current
Kuhn (1)
1. Kuhn’s History of Science
Immature Science:
No prevailing school of thought
Various disparate theories
Competition
REQUIREMENTS FOR A CHANGE IN PARADIGM

1. A significant body of evidence arises

which the old paradigm cannot explain.
2. A young scientist on the fringe of
science.
3. A theoretician (usually).
4. A shot in the dark.
5. Courage, stubbornness, patience,
communication skills, etc.
6. A dramatic predicted consequence that
the old paradigm could not have made
which proves true.
• GREAT PARADIGM SHIFTS IN SCIENCE
• 1. Geocentrism  Heliocentrism Copernicus (Galileo, Keppler)
• 2. Two separate sets of laws of nature on earth and in the
“heavens”  One set of universal laws of nature Newton
• 3. Young earth/catastrophism  Old earth/uniformitarianism
Hutton and Lyell
• 4. Fixity of species  Evolution of species Darwin
• 5. Undividable atoms  Subatomic particles (J J Thompson and
others)
• 6. Classical mechanics (waves vs particles)  Quantum mechanics
(wave/particle duality)Einstein, Planck, Heisenberg, DeBroglie
• 7. Fixed mass, time and length  Relativity Einstein
• 8. Uniformitarianism  Catastrophism (actually a mixed
paradigm)
• 9. Static Earth → Continental Drift Theory
• 10. ???? → Germ Theory Pasteur, Lister, Sammelweis, Snow,
Holmes
Example: Geocentrism → Heliocentrism
1. a. Lunar eclipses
b. Changing brightnesses of planets
c. Retrograde motion of planets (Ptolemy: cycles and
epicycles)
2. Copernicus!
3. Trained as a mathematician, not as a scientist.
4. The earth moves.
5. Wrote: On the Revolution of Celestial Orbs.
Published on his deathbed, with an apologetic preface.
6. Sun and other planets spin on axis.
Planetary phases.
Other moons?
All observed by Galileo, who published “The Starry Messenger”
And “Dialogue of the Two Chief World Systems.”
Two Separate Sets of Laws in the Universe: The Earth and the Heavens
→ Universal Laws of Nature

1. Planetary Motion: elliptical motion (Kepler)

2. Newton
3. A mathematician, not a scientist, per se.
4. The reason the apple falls to the earth is the
reason the moon goes around the earth.
5. Wrote “Principia.”
6. Space Travel Comets should come back.
Young Earth/CatastrophismOld Earth/Uniformitarianism

Young Earth/Catastrophism
1. The earth is only a few thousand years old. It was created
pretty much as it is.
2. The physical features we can see on the earth are the result
of the initial creation, plus catastrophic events (such as the flood).

Old Earth/Uniformitarianism
1. The earth is very old: many millions of years at least.
2. The physical features on the earth are the result of very
slow and gradual processes which can be observed today and which
have occurred at essentially the same rate since creation..
James Hutton

• How old is the earth? “No vestige of a beginning, no

concept of an end”

• “The plant which is best adapted to the climate, and the

soil, will continue to prosper in the place. But, the most
prosperous plant must be that which will furnish, with its
maturated seed, a vigorous race of fertile plants; and
these will be the more and more accommodated, in the
varying power of vegetation, to the soil and
circumstances in which they grow.”
WILLIAM SMITH

“Each stratum contains fossils peculiar to

itself”
Cenozoic (new life) 65 mya to present

Mesozoic (middle life) 250 mya to 65

mya

Paleozoic (old life) 530 mya to 250 mya

Charles Lyell

Principles of Geology

Elements of Geology

“The present is the key to the past.”

 Old Earth/ Uniformitarianism

1. Sedimentary layers and fossil evidence

2. James Hutton
3. Hutton was a farmer and definitely not trained as a scientist. He
was an observer but not an experimenter
4. The earth is old… very old. (no vestige of a beginning…)
5. Hutton fell short here. His book was not well written or widely
read, so we must mention Lyell as the one whose stubbornness
and courage won the day for uniformitarianism.
6. In the 19th century evidence of areas such as Scandanavia actually
rising out of the Baltic Sea was revealed, along with evidence for
ice ages and so forth.
Old Earth/Uniformitarianism → Still Old Earth/Catastrophism
(actually a mixed paradigm)
1. a. The Cambrian Explosion. (530 MYA). All five known body
plans appeared in 10 ± 10 million years. Sudden appearance of
extremely complex live forms with no obvious precursor.
b. Mass Extinction events.
• 240 MYA 90% of all known species disappeared.
• 65 MYA 80% of all known species disappeared.
(at same time as Chixlub asteroid and Iridium layers)
2. Alvarez (first major paper on Chixlub)
3. ?
4. A gigantic asteroid hit the earth in the distant past, killing off
the dinosaurs etc.
5. The fight still goes on.
6. More catastrophic events will poke their heads up eventually if
we look.
Fixed Species → Evolution of Species
1. Fossil evidence. (note, this was not the principle evidence
used
by Darwin) .
2. Charles Darwin.
3. An exception to the rule? A brilliant and careful
observer/naturalist.
4. The 14 species of finches on the Galopagos Islands “evolved”
by natural selection/survival of the fittest from one original
species of common finch which flew from South America.
5. Wrote “Origin of Species.”
6. The fossil record, with time and study, should fill in.
Innumerable transitional fossils should be found. Q: has this
proven to be true?
• ATOMIC THEORY
• 1. The Law of Constant Composition (LaVoisier).
• 2. John Dalton.
• 3. A good theoretician… a questionable experimentalist.
• 4. Atoms exist (even though I cannot see them)
• 5. Not a huge issue.
• 6. Table of atomic masses, gold cannot be made from
another element, idea of a balanced chemical equation…

• Bottom line, this is the fundamental theory of chemistry.

• Atomic Theory:
• 1. Elements are made up of identical atoms.
• 2. The atoms of the elements are immutable (i.e. once a
copper atom…)
• 3. Compounds form when atoms combine in an integer
ratio.
Indivisible atoms (hard sphere model) → Subatomic Particles
1. The existence of ions (Arrhenius). Bonding and valence in
general (ex: why is carbon tetravalent, why H2O not H3O?)

2. JJ Thompson (discovered the electron)

Ernest Rutherford (discovered the atomic nucleus)

3. Both very young, both were theoreticians (and experimentalists)

Thompson: the plumb pudding model.
Rutherford: the nuclear model.

4. Democritus, Boyle and Dalton were wrong. Atoms are not the
smallest particle.
5.
6. Explain ionic compounds, acids, bases, eventually all molecular
Classical Mechanics → Quantum Mechanics

Classical Mechanics:
Everything is either a wave (sound, light,…) or a particle
(planet, atom, electron…). There is not overlap.

Quantum Mechanics:
Everything (including electrons and light) acts both like a
wave and a particle.

Q. M.: Wave/Particle duality

Light: E = hf

Particles (electron) λ = h/mv

Classical Mechanics → Quantum Mechanics
1. a. Discrete Atomic Emission Spectra.
b. Photoelectric Effect.
c. Black Body Radiation.
2. Einstein (and Planck, Bohr, Schroedinger, DeBroglie,
etc.)
3. Definitely a young scientist on the fringe!!!! (working in
a patent
office)
4. Interpret the photoelectric effect to imply that light is
made of
particles called photons.
5. It took more than 20 years for QM to be accepted.
6. a. the electron microscope.
b. diffraction and interference of electrons.
Photoelectric Effect

When blue light is shone on the emitter plate,

a current flows in the circuit
Experimental Observations
• Only light with a frequency greater than a
certain threshold will produce a current

• Current begins almost instantaneously, even

for light
of very low intensity

• Current is proportional to the intensity of the

incident light
Problems with Wave Theory of
Light
• The wave theory of light is unable to explain
these observations

• For waves, energy depends on amplitude and

not frequency

• This implies that a current should be

produced when say, high-intensity red light is
used
Einstein’s Explanation
(1905)
• Light consists of particles,
now known as photons Albert Einstein won a Nobel Prize for
his work on the photoelectric effect
and not his theory of relativity!

• A photon hitting the emitter

plate will eject an electron
if it has enough energy

• Each photon has energy:

E = hf

(same as Planck’s formula)

Double-Slit Experiment
to illustrate wave nature of light
Double-Slit Experiment
with electron gun

Electrons behave like waves!

Interference Pattern of
Electrons
• Determines the probability of an electron
arriving at a
certain spot on the screen

• After many electrons,

resembles the inter-
ference pattern of light

Electron interference pattern after (a) 8 electrons, (b) 270 electrons, (c) 2000
electrons, and (d) 6000 electrons
Summary
• Waves and particles exhibit very different behaviour

• Yet, light sometimes behaves like particles

– spectrum of blackbody radiation
– photoelectric effect

• And electrons sometimes behave like waves

– interference pattern of electrons

• In quantum theory, the distinction between waves

and particles is blurred
Classical Mechanics → Relativity
According to Classical Mechanics:
Things which are absolute Things which are relative
(independent of motion) (depend on motion)

mass, time, length speed of object, speed of light

According to Relativity:
Speed of light mass, time, length,
Speed of object.
1. The Michelson/Morely experiment
2. Albert Einstein (this time by himself)
3. A theoretician, to say the least!!
4. Accept M & M, with all its implications.
5. patient, courageous, stubborn….
6. light bent by very massive objects. Space is “warped” by
massive objects.