CEFISES Seminar: Jan Potters, “Thomas Kuhn and the history of quantum physics, 1961-1984”

Livestream https://www.youtube.com/@CEFISES

Series: HPS

Speaker: Jan Potters (University of Antwerp)

Title: “Thomas Kuhn and the history of quantum physics, 1961-1984”

Abstract

Thomas Kuhn is primarily known as the philosopher of science who wrote The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962). Less known is that he has also carried out work that has been of major significance for the development of history of quantum physics as a discipline. In the 1960s in particular Kuhn was the principal investigator of a project titled Sources for History of Quantum Physics, which aimed at archiving as much material about the development of quantum physics as possible. The project did this not only by collecting archival materials, but equally well by interviewing physicists who had participated in the field’s development.

As of yet, there has been very little study of Kuhn’s work on this project. My aim in this talk is to fill this gap. I will focus, more specifically, on three aspects of Kuhn’s work on the history of quantum physics. First, I will provide an extensive discussion of the Sources-project itself, and Kuhn’s later evaluation of it. Second, I will then outline how Kuhn himself used the project output in his later work on the history of quantum physics. And third, I will discuss how Kuhn’s historical work related to his philosophical practice.