Duhem’s Legacy for the Change in the Historiography of Science

An Analysis Based on Kuhn’s Writings

Abstract

What is the contribution of Duhem’s work to the modern historiography? His interpreters have been discussing this question and ordinarily have recognized that the main aspect in his extensive work is connected with his research of medieval science. It has become customary to speak of the “discovery of medieval science” as his foremost historiographic achievement. This paper aims to discuss some aspects of Duhem’s historiography more for its promotion of a new historical perspective than for its results. Duhem’s legacy for modern historiography can be investigated from the characteristics that mark this new perspective, as regarded by Thomas Kuhn.