What is a Paradigm Shift? (Part 1) Timothy C. Weiskel 7 September - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Environmental Ethics and Land Management http://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre120 What is a Paradigm Shift? (Part 1) Timothy C. Weiskel 7 September 2011 Class Discussion Session Week 2 Harvard Extension School Fall Semester 2011 A

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Environmental Ethics and Land Management

http://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre120

Timothy C. Weiskel

Harvard Extension School Fall Semester 2011

7 September 2011 Class Discussion Session – Week 2

What is a Paradigm Shift?

(Part 1)

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A paradigm shift is a change in outlook or worldview. It is, effectively, a total change in perspective. In any field of science a paradigm shift represents a radical transformation of the framework within which individual empirical observations and broader theoretical assertions are interpreted and understood.

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Three Examples of Paradigm Shift

1. Galileo and the shift from a Terracentric to a

Heliocentric World.

2. Plate Tectonics and the move from

“Acts of God” to Earth System Dynamics.

3. From the Growth Paradigm to the

Sustainability Paradigm in World Agriculture – Beyond the “Green” Revolution.

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The Insight of Thomas Kuhn…

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This is the 50th anniversary of the publication of Thomas Kuhn’s important work.… Its insights are crucial for understanding the history

f modern science…

Celebrations are planned for 2012.

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Galileo’s “Blasphemy”

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Galileo and the shift from a Terracentric to a Heliocentric World.

Case 1

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Europeans and Chinese had long mapped the striking “evidence” of the morphological relatedness of continents.

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The Plate Tectonic Paradigm Shift

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Case 2

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Alfred Wegener with his theory of “continental drift” and the subsequent development of “Plate Tectonics” allowed humans to move from observing “Acts of God” to exam instead “earth system dynamics.”

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From the Growth Paradigm to the Sustainability Paradigm

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Case 3

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1. Galileo and the shift from a Terracentric to a Heliocentric World – Cosmic science. 2. Plate Tectonics and the shift from “Acts of God” to Earth System Science.

3. [Case 3 to be completed in “What is a Paradigm Shift?”

(part 2), in next week’s Discussion Session.]

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Three Examples of Paradigm Shift

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1. Galileo and the shift from a Terracentric to a Heliocentric World – Cosmic science. [Now universally accepted.] 2. Plate Tectonics and the shift from “Acts of God” to Earth System Science. [Publicly accepted . Still contested in pre-scientific circles…]

3. [Case 3 to be completed in “What is a Paradigm Shift?”

(part 2), in next week’s Discussion Session.]

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Three Examples of Paradigm Shift