THE HISTORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENTIFIC POPULARIZATION THROUGH THE PRISM OF THOMAS KUHN’S STRUCTURE OF SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTIONS

The scientific article considers the problem of formation of approaches to popularisation of science as part of the general scientific process. Accordingly, the features of conducting science popularization activities, compared with the traditional sphere of scientific activity itself, are investigated. It was determined that, unlike the universal approaches of traditional sciences, science popularization activities depend on socio-political and economic conditions not only in time, but also in space, that is, on the prevalent social realities in different countries. The process of developing science popularization was divided according to the structure of Thomas Kuhn’s scientific revolutions. It was established that the initiative for popularizing science passed from professional scientists to journalists and educators, who acted as intermediaries, and, ultimately, to a wide range of Internet users, which include all previous categories and people completely unrelated to them. This makes the current paradigm diversified and decentralized. It was also found that the change of paradigms in the field of science popularization is interdependent on technological development and on the principles of organisation of social institutions. Ultimately, it was determined that today the popularization of science is in a crisis state of transition to a new paradigm.