INFORMATION THEORY IN THE 20th CENTURY:

DIALOGUES BETWEEN KUHN AND FLECK

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7443/problemata.v14i4.65615

Keywords:

Ludwik Fleck, Thomas Kuhn, history of physics, information theory

Abstract

This paper discusses how the work of the Polish microbiologist Ludwik Fleck contains answers to the longings and problems present in the work of Thomas Kuhn, particularly the notion of incommensurability between paradigms. We also discuss a possible role for Fleck's works in constructing a theoretical framework based on biology, as Kuhn longed for in his last writings. Finally, we illustrate the value of Fleckian epistemology by analysing the historical episode of the development of the information theory in different scientific communities during the first half of the twentieth century: Bell Laboratories and the cybernetics group in the United States of America and European group. Thus seeking conclusions about the role of Fleck's work in an epistemology of biological matrix, that is, one that follows an evolutionary model, and not a revolutionary one, of scientific making.

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Author Biography

Cibelle Celestino Silva, Universidade de São Paulo (USP)

Possui graduação em Física pela Universidade de São Paulo, mestrado e doutorado em Física pela Universidade Estadual de Campinas, na área de História da Física. É professora do Instituto de Física de São Carlos da Universidade de São Paulo, onde desenvolve pesquisas sobre História da Física e Ensino de Física, professora convidada do Programa de Doctorado en Didáctica de las Ciencias Experimentales da Universidad Catolica del Maule, Chile e bolsista produtividade do CNPq desde 2013. Coordenou o coordenou o Grupo de História, Teoria e Ensino de Ciências (GHTC) entre 2010 e 2022. 

References

CONDÉ, Mauro Lúcio Leitão Mutações no estilo de pensamento: Ludwik Fleck e o modelo biológico na historiografia da ciência. Revista de Filosofia Moderna e Contemporânea, 2018.

DELIZOICOV, Demétrio; NADIR, Castilho; CUTOLO, Luiz Roberto Agea; DA ROS, Marco Aurélio; LIMA, Armênio Matias Corrêa. Sociogênese do conhecimento e pesquisa em ensino: contribuições a partir do referencial fleckiano. Caderno Brasileiro de Ensino de Física, p. 52-69, 2002.

FLECK, Ludwik. To look, to see, to know. 1947 In: COHEN, Robert S.; SCHNELLE, Thomas (ed.). Cognition and fact: materials on Ludwik Fleck. Springer Science & Business Media, 2012.

FLECK, Ludwik. Gênese e desenvolvimento de um fato científico: introdução à doutrina do estilo de pensamento e do coletivo de pensamento. [S.l.]: Fabrefactum Editora, 2010.

GABOR, Dennis Theory of communication. Journal of the Institution of Electrical Engineers-Part III: radio and communication engineering, IET, v. 93, n. 26, p. 429-441, 1946.

HARTLEY, Ralph. Transmission of information 1. Bell System Technical Journal, Wiley Online Library, v. 7, n. 3, p. 535–563, 1928.

KUHN, Thomas. A estrutura das Revoluções Científicas. 7. ed. São Paulo: Editora Perspectiva, 2003.

KUHN, Thomas. Foreword. In: FLECK, L. Genesis and development of a scientific fact. Chicago: The University of Chicago, 1979.

KUHN, Thomas. The Road since Structure. Chicago: University of Chicago press, 2000.

NYQUIST, Harry. Certain factors affecting telegraph speed. New York: Transactions of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers - IEEE, p. 412-422, 1924.

OLIVEIRA, Bernardo Jefferson de. Os circuitos de Fleck e a questão da popularização da Ciência In: CONDÉ, Mauro Lúcio Leitão (ed.). Ludwik Fleck: estilos de pensamento na ciência. Belo Horizonte: Fino Traço Editora, 2012.

OTTE, George. Fato e pensamento em Ludwik Fleck e Walter Benjamin In: CONDÉ, Mauro Lúcio Leitão (ed.). Ludwik Fleck: estilos de pensamento na ciência. Belo Horizonte: Fino Traço Editora, 2012.

PENA, Aurélio Bianco; SILVA, Cibelle Celestino. Da comunicação à informação: quando a prática se sobrepõe à teoria. Revista Brasileira de Ensino de Física, v. 44, 2022.

PIERCE, John Robinson. An introduction to information theory: symbols, signals and noise. New York: Dover Publications, 1980.

SHANNON, Claude Elwood. A mathematical theory of communication. The Bell System Technical Journal, Nokia Bell Labs, v. 27, n. 3, p. 379-423, 1948.

WIENER, Norbert. Cybernetics: or control and communication in the animal and the machine. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, 1948.

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Published

2023-11-10

Issue

Vol. 14 No. 4 (2023): Thomas Kuhn: Science, History and the Scientific Community

Section

Papers

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Copyright (c) 2023 Aurélio Bianco Pena, Cibelle Celestino Silva

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