Is there a Paradigm Shift in Limnology and Marine Biology

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the International Review of Hydrobiology, we invited leading scientists to contribute to a special issue on Paradigm Shifts in Limnology and Marine Biology. Many of these scientists described new concepts in their highly specialized disciplines, however, not in the strict Kuhnian sense, but more as a cumulative – though nonlinear – acquisition and refinement of knowledge. Hence, a proposal for a major paradigm shift was not presented. If, however, the strict Kuhnian definition is eased somehow, anthropogenically induced global climate change may be regarded as a paradigm shift. Here, we provide a brief overview of these thought-provoking contributions. Jedes Problem durchlauft bis zu seiner Anerkennung drei Stufen: In der ersten wird es lacherlich gemacht. In der zweiten bekampft, in der dritten gilt es als selbstverstandlich1 attributed to Arthur Schopenhauer, 1788–1860 (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)