Study Guide: Chapter 7 — Crisis and New Theories

Core Concept

Fundamental new theories emerge only after pronounced, community-visible failure of normal problem-solving. Crisis loosens rules and explains simultaneous discovery: many minds converge on the same public breaking point.

Key Terms

Crisis · technical breakdown · simultaneous discovery · retooling

Case Summary

Copernicus called Ptolemaic astronomy a "monster" before offering the cure; phlogiston drowned in weight-gain anomalies before Lavoisier; the ether crisis preceded Einstein.

Application Checklist

• [ ] Name your field's publicly acknowledged chronic failure
• [ ] Map your heterodox idea onto that failure — or shelve the pitch
• [ ] Watch for triple-parallel inventions: crisis is the author

Self-Test

1. Why won't a handful of anomalies trigger paradigm change?
2. What does simultaneous discovery indicate about its cause?
3. Lakatos's objection to "crisis" — and Kuhn's Postscript concession?