Explanation
This question seemingly asks us to put words in Wise's
mouth, only we will not have to do that, because we will attribute a view to
Wise based exactly on what the passage has told us. As we summarized earlier,
Kuhn describes revolution, while Wise describes mediation. So Wise's criticism
of Kuhn theory would be that it describes some things as revolutions that are
better described as mediation. Simple enough. Let's see where that appears in
the answer choices. Both (B) and (D) are in the ballpark of this prediction.
Choice (B) is accurate, because Kuhn's theory expressions that a technology
"invariably supports or challenges," while in Wise's theory the technology can
mediate differences. Choice (D) is partly nonsensical, because "paradigm
shifts" are an idea in Kuhn's theory and not in Wise's; Wise hasn't done any
explaining of paradigm shifts and, since the paradigm shift is a concept that
expresses Kuhn's inherently not-mediating idea, it can't be explained in terms
of mediation. So (D) is out. So we have (B) as our answer, but to review the
other choices: (A) is inconsistent, because Wise also uses metaphor. In choice
(C), what the "wider significance" is is exactly the
point on which Kuhn and Wise differ. Choice (E) is unsupported, as there is no
discussion of the impact on the minds of scientists; for example, we don't know
whether the calorimeter helped the two scientists personally understand each
other better.
The correct answer is (B).
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