Thomas Kuhn Writing Style Essay Example for Free

Thomas Kuhn Writing Style Essay According to the back cover, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions is considered one of The Hundred Most Influential Books Since the Second World War by The Times Literary Supplement. I don’t necessarily agree with this assessment. Don’t miss understand what I’m saying; he is probably one of the more brilliant people that have ever walked this earth for all I know. But, I could not get over how difficult his writing style was to interpret. His form of writing is not something that most people who are not scientists are use too. From being written in a scientific and philosophical manner, to explaining a paradigm and normal science, to using words that I was trying to look up in the dictionary on every single page. The one thing I did care for was his redundancy in his book. His redundancy will grab your attention telling you to pay attention to this certain word or phrase because it will be important to understanding this book. From the start of the book, I’ve come to the conclusion that Thomas Kuhn is almost writing a scientific and philosophical essay. As he continues to refer back to some of the more brilliant people in the history of the world such as Aristotle, Galileo, Einstein, Newton and Lavoisier, this is where I recognized the scientific and philosophical â€Å"writing style† he had. Numerous times he would refer back to one of these names and tell of their scientific development that was associated with their name. This, for whatever reason, made me think his writing was actually organized; I just didn’t understand it. He gave explanations behind why he was referencing this particular person making everything attempt to flow a little bit better. For me, philosophy was never a subject that I understood well, therefore, it was very hard for me to follow in what he was saying. Throughout this essay, Thomas Kuhn puts a large emphasis on paradigms, and normal science. From what I understood, a paradigm meant that the nature of scientific inquiry within a particular field was going to be largely transformed. That was my own interpretation. I sat for about a day on trying to figure out how I was going to understand what his form of paradigm meant. For all I know, I’m completely wrong. But that’s what I understood so far. So, for Thomas Kuhn, his argument was that science did not progress on a linear accumulation of knowledge but that it went through so-called periodic revolutions. This is where the term paradigm shift had come from. I believe that it is impossible to go through a paradigm shift without a crisis. When attempting to understand what normal science was to Thomas Kuhn, I was still quite confused since I was trying to interpret paradigm and paradigm shift. Kuhn insists, (p. 52) Normal science does not aim at novelties of fact or theory and, when successful, finds none. Again, not quite sure what he just said there. So, I sat on it for a few hours to figure out what he was trying to tell the reader. After that day, I felt that he was almost concerned that common occurrence of discoveries was going to disprove his thesis. So, if normal science aims at discovery, and discoveries are novel, then normal science aims at novelty. Kuhn claims that discoveries are always accompanied by changes in the prevailing paradigm. Attempting to understand what each of these meant in his words was a struggle. I would have much rather used the Internet to try to figure out what in the world he was saying. For me, Thomas Kuhn’s writing style is above and beyond my intellect or knowledge. Having my bachelors in science didn’t help me out whatsoever like I thought it would when beginning this book. The most difficult obstacle for me while reading Thomas Kuhn’s book was no doubt trying to understand what he was saying by the words he used. Just in the first few chapters I was looking up words in the dictionary probably four or five times on each page. I understand his audience was a group of scientists so they should understand this. I won’t knock him for that. I also feel like he could’ve made the reading a little easier to understand. No to bring anyone down to a lower level, but to â€Å"dumb† it down a little bit would have given people like me a huge help at understanding his form of writing. Just in the first two chapters, this was the list of words or phrases I could not pick up on: * Phylogistic chemistry * Arbitrariness * Onslaught * Dichotomies * Elucidate * Esoteric * Corpuscles * Effluvium * Arduous * Recondite * Metallurgy * Morass * Juxtapose Sure, a few of these words I have come across before in another reading. The book I read these words from was probably a science textbook, and honestly were not words I was going to be using everyday. Lastly, I noticed how redundant Thomas Kuhn was in his writing style. I think that because of who his audience was, he needed to be redundant. He needed to repeatedly bring the importance of a paradigm up for discussion. He was trying to get people to pay attention to certain points in his writing and the best way to do that is to talk about them repeatedly. With his redundancy I found myself paying more attention to certain words or phrases he was pointing out to me, like, â€Å"Hey!  Grasp this concept and understand because I’m going to bring it up a lot in this book. † This was the only form of his writing style that I cared for. Again, I’m not trying to knock him for what he has written, because from reviews I’ve read on him and his book, he’s pretty brilliant. The redundancy is always annoying, but in this case it helped me to grasp concepts that he was really trying to focus on and bring my attention to so I could fully understand this book. Did it completely help me in understanding this book? No, not at all, I’m still blown away at what in the world I’ve read and am still reading to understand him.

Adam Sandler Essay -- essays research papers

It seems you either love him or hate him - but there's no avoiding him. Adam Sandler has risen to the top, and he has his loyal fans to thank for it. While most actors fight their way to the top while relying mainly on hype, for Sandler this was actually against him. No one thought he would succeed, but the fans made it happen, carrying him to the top of the box office. Sandler grew up in Brooklyn, New York and was born on September 9th, 1966. While this probably doesn't come as a surprise, Adam was the class clown throughout high school. What was surprising is that Adam never realized how useful his sense of humor would be. He got his start in stand-up comedy one night when he got and started performing at a Boston bar he frequently went to. Although Sandler is often dismissed as Immature, he has a University education with a degree in Fine Arts from New York University. He relied on the money that he earned in stand-up and from a recurring role on the hit Cosby Show as Theo Huxtable's dim-witted buddy. He spent some time doing stand-up in L.A., where former Saturday Night Live star Dennis Miller caught his act. Miller spoke to producer Lorne Michaels about him, and Adam Sandler was soon working for SNL. At first, he was mainly a writer who appeared on the show occasionally. However, his appearances were so popular (ie: Operaman, Canteen Boy) that his status soon changed to that of a regular player. During the early 90s, he was by far the most popular and entertaining ca...

Gangsterism in the 1920’s

â€Å"The Roaring Twenties,†; what a perfect aphorism. It was certainly roaring with music and dance, but it also was roaring with gangsters. In the aspect of gangsterism, the thirties were also roaring. Americans in this time period tolerated criminals, especially those involved in bootlegging. Bootlegging is the smuggling of illegal substances. Bootlegging could have possibly been tolerated because of the recent outlaw of alcohol during this time period, known as the Prohibition. Gangsters were involved in bootlegging, prostitution, gambling, organized crime, and racketeering. Al â€Å"Scarface â€Å" Capone, Bonnie and Clyde, and John Dillinger were the headliners of this era. Gangsterism provided a risky job but maximum rewards in a time when jobs were scarce and our country was in the midst of a depression. When Congress passed the eighteenth amendment, alcohol was banned in every way from America. People who were addicted to alcohol and even those who were accustomed to the casual drink still had a demand for it. Many would pay top dollar for a drink, they didn’t think obtaining alcohol would be too immoral because it was legal just a few years back. Citizens would hold private socials and would serve alcohol to all of the guests, this was usually done by the wealthy because of the high cost of alcohol. This opened up many opportunities for those who were willing to take risks and bootleg illegal alcohol to the country. With money flowing like water to many of these gangsters, greed began to grow rapidly among them. They began to explore more demoralizing fields of work. These gangsters began to open speakeasies, which were like old west taverns with prostitution, gambling, and of course, drinking. Speakeasies always had cover charges ranging from five dollars to twenty-five dollars, depending on the price of alcohol at the time. America’s obsession for alcohol allowed the owners to charge any price they wanted. Thousands of speakeasies were located in Chicago, which meant that tens-of-thousands of speakeasies were spread around the country, with most in the large cities. So many Americans were sneaking around under the law that moral values began to dwindle. Gangsters moved up in the ranks and began more vicious crimes such as murder and massive theft. Most of these crimes were necessary to keep business alive. Murder was widespread because some people who would be paid to keep quiet would talk, in return they would be dealt with†¦very harshly. In 1929, gangsters from across the country gathered in Atlantic City, New Jersey to meet with one another. Leaders from all of the major crime syndicates attended. At the meeting, they made agreements on boundaries and a their â€Å"government† to make sure relations between groups were peaceful. Anyone who broke these rules were, again, dealt with†¦very harshly. One of the most famous crime bosses ever was Al Capone. His nickname was â€Å"scarface. † which is used as a nickname in many mobster movies. He had his own army†¦seven thousand strong. He owned ten thousand speakeasies, and he was involved in all of the traditional gangster activities such as prostitution and gambling. Many politicians and police officers were on the payroll of Capone. Because of his one-hundred million dollar annual income, he had no problem maintaining this kind of lifestyle. Capon’s most famous quote is â€Å"When I sell liquor, it’s bootlegging. When my patrons serve it on silver trays on Lake Shore Drive, it’s hospitality. † In 1929, a rival boss, Bugs Moran, began to infringe on Capone’s territory. He sent some of his â€Å"boys†, disguised as police officers, to one of Moran’s drop-off spots for alcohol. They disarmed Moran’s men and then sprayed many rounds in to their bodies, ending Moran’s career as a gangster. This is known as the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. After the Massacre, Capone’s freedom and iron-fisted control was on the decline because of the Public Enemies List. Law enforcement tried to nail him for any offense for which they could get proof, the only one was tax evasion. Capone served eleven years in prison and left wrecked by syphilis. He died peacefully in his home and was buried next to his father and grandfather in Chicago’s west side. Other criminals took advantage of corrupt law enforcement and went on sprees of killing and looting. Bonnie and Clyde are two famous sidekicks who drove over the country committing murder after murder and robbery after robbery. After eight years of ludicrous behavior, the couple was gunned down outside of Arcadia, Louisiana by law enforcement. Because it was as if the law was a minority, the couple’s bodies were displayed as if they were prizes. Another criminal was John Dillinger, he was a pioneer in organized crime. He would time switching of guards, find escape routes, and always have a safe house. He had many informants on the â€Å"inside† that were paid to assist him. One particular time in Wisconsin, the FBI and police officers had him surrounded in a lodge and charged in to capture him and he mysteriously vanished eaving the government embarrassed. Dillinger was finally killed when he and his girlfriend were exiting the movie theatre and was met by several rounds of ammunition fired by awaiting law enforcement. Law enforcement of the day was struggling badly. It had police who were under the payroll of organized crime, police who would participate in illegal activities themselves, and morale was hard to come by. Police would not cooperate with one another and share information. The men with the still-good hearts had a desire for personal glory, the hero. he Federal Bureau of Investigation began massive manhunts to destroy gangsterism, and they finally were successful by sending many undercover agents in to the mobs themselves and secretly in to the speakeasies. The success is remembered by an image the FBI has today. It is known as the country’s premier law enforcement agency. Gangsterism was a powerful part of the twenties and thirties. Gangsterism was caused by a domino effect, beginning with Prohibition. Unlike most at the time, they received the Prohibition with open arms. It meant monopoly on liquor, which meant opportunity for money. Greed and lust for power fed these â€Å"czars† of cities, commanders of armies. Prohibition ceased after 1933 with the passing of the twenty-first amendment, which legalized alcoholic beverages. Gangsters began to fade along with their prominent source of income†¦liquor. Some of these gangsters were thrown in jail and others quit before they could be caught. When Capone was apprehended, he said, chuckling, â€Å"All I ever did was supply a demand,†

Can China Continue For Grow China - 1067 Words

Can China continue to grow? China has been heavy on government capital spending and exports. China’s capital spending is usually under infrastructure such as: roads and bridges, and they have been doing some testing to see where 3D printing can help continue to drive the economy. China has been testing the use of 3D printing for houses and other infrastructure as a possible avenue to continue having capital spending as a powerful driver in the Chinese economy. Exports are another vast driver in the Chinese’s economy where mass production is a part of total exports. Future 3d printing can be seen as a strength with products that are custom and more complex. China is trying to move towards an economy driven by consumer spending. Fine-tuning an economy is very difficult. As you can see from the chart, Chinese growth has slowed down very significantly. Still the levels are higher than many other countries, but the slowdown is clear and the transition to that slow down can b e seen as problematic. The blue line is related to the value of the yen and that has weakened in the last two years as well (Mitchell, 2015 para. 13). This has happened because China has allowed its currency to appreciate. That can be related to Chinese competiveness dropping for the last 2 years. This could have bad results for the Chinese economy. Furthermore, monetary conditions in China have changed as a result in Chinese’s GDP growth. The Chinese Central bank has reduced its reserve requirements and theShow MoreRelated The Promising Future of Chinas Economy Essay960 Words   |  4 PagesThe Promising Future of Chinas Economy If Chinas economy grows as fast for the next 20 years as it has for the past 14, it will be the biggest economy on earth: I feel that Chinas drastic improvements over the last 14 years are overwhelming, with their Real GNP growing at a rate of 9% a year, which means by, 1994, Chinas economy will match the performance of countries like Japan and Taiwan. Chinas standard of living has also increased, and the number of people who wereRead MoreNew Growth And Reform Of China1699 Words   |  7 Pages New Growth and Reform of China Siyu Sun 1377625 University of Alberta Author Note This paper was prepared for Econ 211, Section A, taught by Professor Xu. Abstract Export was the main growth from 1994 in China, but China has new growth engines in recent years. 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