Kuhnian Paradigms and the Birth of Quantum Physics: Planck, 1894-1912

Abstract

A heated controversy about the historical track of quantum discontinuity in Planck's work arose by the end of 1970s. Thomas Kuhn argued in Black-Body Theory and the Quantum Discontinuity, 1894-1912 (1978) that it did not play a key role in Planck's theory of black-body radiation through 1894-1910 and, indeed, that he did not explicitly, consistently introduced it. Its strong points and overall internalist limitations, and a separate historical approach, are discussed.