CCST 9026: Scientific Revolutions and their Impact on Modern Societies

Assignment 2
Background
As part of this course, we study the idea of paradigm change as developed in Thomas
Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. We try to see if this idea is useful in
understanding particular episodes in the history of science.

Assignment
Your task is to write a three-page essay (about 750 words) on a case study of some
scientific revolution. You will identify some episode of concept change in science (a
scientific revolution), research the circumstances under which this change occurred, and
evaluate whether or not this episode is marked by the characteristics of scientific
revolution as identified by Thomas Kuhn in his book The Structure of Scientific
Revolutions. For your essay, choose any episode except the Copernican Revolution. This
assignment will require you to do some additional research, but it does not need to be
extensive. A few different article-length sources or books would be appropriate. Narrate
the episode for the benefit of your reader. Does your episode support or challenge
Kuhn's picture of scientific revolution? What is your final assessment of Kuhn's picture of
a scientific paradigm and the idea of paradigm change?

Put a Title Page at the beginning of your assignment. The assignment must be TYPED
and IN YOUR OWN WORDS. You should use Times New Romans, 12-point font size and
double-spacing. Be sure to write your FULL NAME , UID and tutorial section.

Deadline: Nov. 11th - soft copy on Moodle!

Grading Rubric

Excellent Good Fair Inadequate

Narrative of a particular scientific 5 4 3 1
revolution; determination of whether
or not that episode exhibits the
hallmarks Kuhn’s ideas
Personal assessment of Kuhn’s 3 2 1 0
concept of paradigm change
Others (clear thesis, logical argument, 2 1.5 1 0
grammar, following directions, etc.)
Total 10points