Kuhn claims after a revolutionary change of theory, scientists need to write new textbooks to incorporate the new theoretical perspective. The revisions do not merely involve the addition of the new discoveries. The task involves some rewriting of the history of the discipline. Kuhn suggests there are parallels to Orwell’s 1984. The “new” history of a scientific field is written to emphasize the continuity through the change. This chapter examines the role Kuhn’s comparison to 1984 plays in his argument, and the significance of the rewriting of a discipline’s history after a change of theory. The process tells us something about both how scientists are trained to work effectively and the nature of the changes that occur during a scientific revolution.

This chapter introduces the idea of scientific cultures as complex, multifaceted sets of norms and values, shared within a given scientific community, about the appropriate social practice of scientific teaching and research. It identifies seven dimensions of scientific cultures:

1. 1. The attitude towards existing scientific knowledge

2. 2. The approach to problem-solving

3. 3. The scope of research ambitions

4. 4. The degree of autonomy given to individual scientists within a research team

5. 5. The importance given to rank and seniority

6. 6. The attitudes towards difference within the lab or research organization, and finally

7. 7. The approach to inward- and outward-facing communication