The Copernican Revolution: Planetary Astronomy in the Development of Western Thought
An illuminating account of the intellectual transformation which laid the foundations of modern science and philosophy, and which may therefore be said to have created the modern world. (Scientific American)No other book is so patient, so comprehensive, so sensitive, in its recovery of the experience and the outlook from which the older scientific theories emerged. No other book so enables us to see the intellectual hurdles that existed and to relive something of the process of actual scientific discovery. (American Historical Review)In this study of the Copernican Revolution, [Thomas Kuhn] brings to a common focus the considered approach of the historian, the technical understanding of the scientist and the skill and experience of an able teacher. No careful reader of this well-wrought volume can fail to appreciate the nicely balanced interplay of these elements in the full explication of one of the major turning points in the evolution of scientific thought. For those concerned with the teaching of the history of science, Dr. Kuhn's discussion of the issues involved in the Copernican Revolution will prove to be indispensable, a superb analysis of the 'anatomy of revolution.' Those drawn to the question of meaning which the historian of science can give to the evolution of ideas will find this book equally valuable, a paradigm of synthesis and interpretation. (Isis)Reading this book in the current age of extrasolar planets, genetics and string theory is eye-opening. (Caleb ScharfNature2012-07-01)