Model shows how scientific paradigms rise and fall
Tuesday, February 22, 2011 - 11:20
in Biology & Nature
(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientific concepts such as climate change, nanotechnology, and chaos theory can sometimes spring up and capture the attention of both the scientific and public communities, only to be replaced by new ideas later on. Although many factors influence the emergence and decline of such scientific paradigms, a new model has captured how these ideas spread, providing a better understanding of paradigm shifts and the culture of innovation.