Multiple theories of scientific change have been prominently
promulgated since Kuhn. A quasi-discipline “Scientonomy” has
even been proposed to formalize these theories. The cybernetics
principle known as “The Law of Requisite Variety (LRV)” when
combined with cognitive science insights regarding categorization
and its ilk can be used to chart one such formalism. LRV holds that
control/prediction can only be assured when the internal
complexity of a system matches the external complexity it
confronts The key indicator of an activity directed at scientific
change comes from examinations of the models which scientists
deploy in attempting to link pre-existing explanations with new
problems to be explained. Normal science is a reductive activity –
limiting the variety encountered. Innovative science is the process
of expanding such variety, and scientific change is what happens
when the innovative crosses the threshold for normal.