"Paradigm Shifts in Physics", Dr. Stefan Buhmann (University of Freiburg)

Lunch Lecture series "Paradigm Shifts in Science", lecture held on November 5, 2015

In his famous work "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions", the philosopher Thomas Kuhn tried to give a general account of how scientific knowledge develops (or possibly progresses?) over time. His central notion is the paradigm shift, which is a very radical change in the whole structure of a scientific discipline. Being a physicist by training, Kuhn's paradigm shifts were inspired by and modelled on physics and its two major revolutions of the time: The replacements of Newtownian physics by special and general relativity, and of classical mechanics by quantum mechanics, respectively. By understanding the conceptual changes associated with these revolutions in physics, we can therefore develop a deep intuition for Kuhn's concept of a paradigm shift in general. In other words: Physics is paradigmatic for Kuhn's paradigm shifts.

More information: www.frias.uni-freiburg.de/en/events/lunch-lectures