[Ssnet_list] Reminder, Kuhn Today: First Monday STSS Group at 12:30 p.m. PDT

[Monika Sengul-Jones via Ssnet_list]

Hi everyone,

I don’t know about you, but I’m a geek for conceptual origin stories—even
though I know they’re fraught. So, I’m looking forward to today, the *July
7 First Monday STSS meeting at 12:30 PDT*, to discuss the first three
chapters of Thomas Kuhn's *The Structure of Scientific Revolutions*; a
“page-turner,” according to Ian Hacking, and a book that first introduced
concepts which have had tremendous staying power. “Paradigm.” “Normal
science.” Even “facts.”

In his 1962 description of “the nature of normal science,” Kuhn wrote that
the effort of science “consists in the actualization of [the] promise [of
success] of a paradigm” (p. 57). Facts “match” a paradigm’s predictions—for
“[t]hose that do not fit the box are often not seen at all” (p. 57). Kuhn
suggests this work is inwardly focused: “Few people who are not actually
practitioners of a mature science realize how much mop-up work of this sort
a paradigm leaves to be done or quite how fascinating such work can prove
in the execution.”

What does Kuhn’s theory of paradigms and normal science mean to us in 2025?

>From the dramatic rollbacks in funding for university research to news

cycles documenting weather events, disease, warfare, and industrial
disasters, all of which are entangled with science, I imagine you might
have something to say.

Today is the day to discuss!

*The Zoom link and reading PDF are below—see you online at 12:30 p.m. PDT.*

Forwarded this message? Reach out to mmjones at uw.edu to be added to the
calendar invite and mailing list.

Curious about First Monday STSS? Learn more here:
https://depts.washington.edu/stsst/first-monday/


My best,
Monika (and Leah)
Co-Facilitators of First Monday STSS


On Wed, Jul 2, 2025 at 11:27 PM Monika Sengul-Jones <mmjones at uw.edu> wrote:


> Hi everyone,

>

> Our next First Monday STSS, to discuss the first three chapters of Kuhn's

> The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (and Hacking's intro)

> is next Monday, July 7, here's the Zoom link:

>

> Join Zoom Meeting

> *https://washington.zoom.us/j/92330478010*

> <https://www.google.com/url?q=https://washington.zoom.us/j/92330478010&sa=D&source=calendar&usd=2&usg=AOvVaw1AEM0pRmTQoTblTqNDhQJO>

>

> Meeting ID: 923 3047 8010

>

> Some of you seem to have received a notification that the event was

> canceled. My calendaring software is not doing us any favors; a mistaken

> click had a big impact. Apologies for the confusion. I hope to see you at

> the next meeting. If you've forwarded this invitation along, please feel

> free to forward the updates. Questions? Please reach out.

>

> My best,

> Monika (and Leah)

>



-----

*Welcome, new members, to the S+T at UW listserv. This email is
cross-posted with the Science Studies Network and the First Monday STSS
reading group list.*

Hi everyone,

In two weeks, join us for the next First Monday STSS Reading Group on *Monday,
July 7, from 12:30–1:25 p.m. via Zoom.* We'll be discussing pp. 38–65 of *The
Structure of Scientific Revolutions* (50th Anniversary Edition) by Thomas
S. Kuhn—covering Kuhn's Introduction through Chapter 3.

Link to reading:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vyvbxaNylWKFxuWKzxfFt0H0RZ6ODhiV/view?usp=sharing

Zoom link: If you didn't receive the calendar invitation, please email me
directly to be added. The Zoom link is also pasted below.

Optional: You might also read Ian Hacking’s 2012 introduction, which is
included in the PDF of the 50th Anniversary edition, for his discussion of
context and significant concepts: "paradigm," "paradigm shift,"
"incommensurability," and "world view." Kuhn’s work popularized these
concepts—ways of thinking about the inner workings of science—even though,
to us today, these terms are now as normal as "normal science."

I'm doubling as host and co-facilitator with Leah Ceccarelli to suggest
this reading, in part because it came up in our conversation on agnotology.
If you haven't read the full book, you might. *The Structure* is one of the
most well-known and referenced books in the STS field; it's also regularly
included on lists of the most influential books of the 20th century in
general.

Looking forward to our conversation!

Yours,
Monika
Monika Sengul-Jones is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Join Zoom Meeting
*https://washington.zoom.us/j/92330478010*
<https://www.google.com/url?q=https://washington.zoom.us/j/92330478010&sa=D&source=calendar&usd=2&usg=AOvVaw1AEM0pRmTQoTblTqNDhQJO>

Meeting ID: 923 3047 8010

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