The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

by

Thomas S. Kuhn

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on The Structure of Scientific Revolutions makes teaching easy.

Extraordinary Science Term Analysis

If normal science discourages novelty, extraordinary science is the means by which a new scientific paradigm is conceived. While normal science is specific and predictable, extraordinary science poses a whole new set of potential problems and techniques (which will then be answered and applied by normal science). And if normal science is a group endeavor, extraordinary science is the work of an individual. Rather than being learned through textbooks, extraordinary science is intuited almost overnight (in a “lightning flash” of genius).

Extraordinary Science Quotes in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

The The Structure of Scientific Revolutions quotes below are all either spoken by Extraordinary Science or refer to Extraordinary Science. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Linear Progress vs. Circular History Theme Icon
).
Chapter 8 Quotes

Instead, the new paradigm, or a sufficient hint to permit later articulation, emerges all at once, sometimes in the middle of the night, in the mind of a man deeply immersed in crisis. […] Almost always the men who achieve these fundamental inventions of a new paradigm have been either very young or very new to the field whose paradigm they change. And perhaps that point need not have been made explicit, for obviously these are the men who, being little committed by prior practice to the traditional rules of normal science, are particularly likely to see that those rules no longer define a playable game and to conceive another set that can replace them.

Related Characters: Thomas Kuhn (speaker)
Page Number: 90
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Structure of Scientific Revolutions LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions PDF

Extraordinary Science Term Timeline in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

The timeline below shows where the term Extraordinary Science appears in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 8. The Response to Crisis
Intuition and Emotion Theme Icon
Normal Science vs. Extraordinary Science Theme Icon
Kuhn then begins to describe the process of “ extraordinary science .” In contrast to normal science, which tries to reject or resolve the anomaly, extraordinary... (full context)
Perception and Truth Theme Icon
Intuition and Emotion Theme Icon
Normal Science vs. Extraordinary Science Theme Icon
The first step of extraordinary science , Kuhn argues, is to test out normal science by “push[ing] the rules” of a... (full context)
Perception and Truth Theme Icon
Intuition and Emotion Theme Icon
Normal Science vs. Extraordinary Science Theme Icon
Most importantly, Kuhn believes that extraordinary science often goes hand-in-hand with new philosophical thought (much of which comes out of the humanities).... (full context)