Originally, paradigm was a word referring to an accepted model or pattern. In The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Thomas Kuhn gave this word a new meaning, using it to represent the set of practices that constitutes the core of a scientific discipline and serves as a model to show how a scientific community should conduct its research.

In Structure, Kuhn defined a paradigm simply as a group of exemplary problem solutions universally accepted by the members of a scientific community. According to Kuhn, what constitute a paradigm are not abstract theories, but concrete applications of the theories for solutions of typical problems. For example, the paradigm of Newtonian mechanics does not consist of Newton's equations of motion, but exemplary applications of these equations in solving such ...