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According to [[Thomas Kuhn]], scientific development alternates between periods of normal science and scientific revolutions. A central concept was that of '''paradigms''', which were defined as "universally recognized scientific achievements that for a time provide model problems and solutions to a community of practitioners" [[CiteRef::Kuhn (1962)| p. viii]] or saw theories as forming interrelated groups united under the banner of what he called a '''paradigm'''. Paradigms were defined as "coherent traditions of scientific research" [[CiteRef::Kuhn (1962)| p. 10]]. In Scientific development alternated between periods of normal science and scientific revolutions. In normal science, a theory or set of interrelated theories contained within a paradigm are used to explain a widening range of phenomena. The accumulation of anomalies which resist explanation can result in a scientific revolution, in which one paradigm is replaced with another. Kuhn argued that paradigms were "incommensurable", and initially described the conversion from one to another in ways that made paradigm choice seem non-rational [[CiteRef::Kuhn (1962)| pp. 111-135]]. He later suggested that paradigm choice was comparative and involved reasoned judgment guided by epistemic values that had remained fixed over history [[CiteRef:: Kuhn (1974)]].
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Among the first philosophers of science to appreciate comparative appraisal was [[Karl Popper]]. Popper maintained that theories are tested by attempts to refute them. In his conception of theory appraisal, a proposed theory was judged against an accepted theory on the basis of a crucial falsifying experiment. In such an experiment, the predictions of the old and new theory contradict each other. As a result, one of the theories must be falsified in this experiment. The unfalsified theory will become the new accepted theory. [[CiteRef::Popper (1959)]]
[[Imre Lakatos]] saw theories as grouped into interrelated sets called research programs. He recognized that theories always face "an ocean of anomalies" [[ but saw this as only becoming significant when a new rival theory makes a successful novel prediction. [[CiteRef::Lakatos (1971a)| pp. 111, 126-128]].
The later [[Larry Laudan]] agreed with the concept of comparative appraisal. [[CiteRef::Laudan (1984)]] In his reticulated model of science, theory choice is determined by the methods employed at the time. The methods in turn are determined by the accepted theories. Lakatos is an important precursor to modern scientonomy.
