Thomas Kuhn argued that science progressed from one ruling paradigm to another through periods of revolution, and also
that science was concerned not so much with truth, but with theories that explained phenomena. While most scientists
would be uncomfortable with such a relativist and non-realist philosophy of science, engineering could be seen as fitting
much better into this Kuhnian perspective. This is because engineers are more interested in dependable models for
fabricating safe artifacts than in the truth (i.e. correspondence with reality) or accuracy of their theories. The fact that many different design paradigms produced safe structures in the history of structural design is also a testimony to this.
Prof. W. P. S. Dias, PhD, DIC, MIStructE
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka