"ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL MODERN WORKS OF THE HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE"

KUHN, Thomas S. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, (1962). Tall octavo, original yellow paper wrappers. Housed in a custom clamshell box. $7800.

First edition, first issue of Thomas Kuhn's landmark work, an exceptionally pristine copy in original wrappers.

"Great books are rare. This is one" (Ian Hacking). Structure of Scientific Revolutions is "one of the most influential modern works of the history and philosophy of science… Kuhn stresses that the history of science is not a smooth progressive accumulation of data and successful theory, but the outcome of ruptures, false starts, and imaginative constraints that themselves reflect many different variables. In his account, science during a normal period works within a framework of assumptions called a paradigm, but in exceptional and revolutionary periods an old paradigm breaks down and after a period of competition is replaced by a new one" (Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy, 209). There are concepts "you remember about Structure when you can remember almost nothing else. On truth: 'We may… have to relinquish the notion' that scientific change brings scientists 'closer and closer to the truth'… On the unity of science: science is 'a rather ramshackle structure'" (Shapin in Devlin & Bokulich, eds. Kuhn's Structure, 11-12). Structure "punctured the widely held notion that scientific change was a strictly rational process… Kuhn's treatise influenced not only scientists but also economists, historians, sociologists and philosophers, touching off considerable debate" (New York Times). Conceived to be published in the International Encyclopedia of Unified Science, this book was released as Volume II, number 2 in their series. First issue, with yellow wrappers.

A fine copy.