Contradicting Kuhn's Popular Notion of Scientific Revolution: Conservative Revolutionaries in the History of Biology

Proposing the concept of a conservative revolutionary generally and using the examples of Gregor Mendel, Max Delbrück, and Eric Davidson, I fundamentally call into question Thomas Kuhn's ideas of scientific revolutions. I also highlight some problematic consequences of the increasing appreciation of Kuhn's work among scientists and show that scientific development is a highly complex phenomenon that defies easy descriptions and conclusions. In Delbrück's words, “the progress of science is tremendously disorderly,” “the motivations that lead to this progress are tremendously varied,” and science does not develop in the way “it is represented in most textbooks.” It should be added that the development is also not proceeding as Kuhn prescribes.