Paradigm Shift - Examples of Paradigm Shifts in The Natural Sciences

Examples of Paradigm Shifts in The Natural Sciences

Some of the "classical cases" of Kuhnian paradigm shifts in science are:

  • The transition in cosmology from a Ptolemaic cosmology to a Copernican one.
  • The transition in optics from geometrical optics to physical optics.
  • The transition in mechanics from Aristotelian mechanics to classical mechanics.
  • The acceptance of the theory of biogenesis, that all life comes from life, as opposed to the theory of spontaneous generation, which began in the 17th century and was not complete until the 19th century with Pasteur.
  • The acceptance of the work of Andreas Vesalius, whose work De humani corporis fabrica corrected the numerous errors in the previously-held system created by Galen.
  • The transition between the Maxwellian Electromagnetic worldview and the Einsteinian Relativistic worldview.
  • The transition between the worldview of Newtonian physics and the Einsteinian Relativistic worldview.
  • The development of quantum mechanics, which replaced classical mechanics at microscopic scales.
  • The acceptance of plate tectonics as the explanation for large-scale geologic changes.
  • The development of absolute dating.
  • The acceptance of Lavoisier's theory of chemical reactions and combustion in place of phlogiston theory, known as the Chemical Revolution.
  • The acceptance of Mendelian inheritance, as opposed to pangenesis in the early 20th century

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