the book-length study of scientific revolutions you are referring to is "The structure of Scientific Revolutions" by Thomas Kuhn. IIRC he coins the term "Paradigm Shift" and using many anecdotes including plate tectonics devises a theory of how scientific revolutions occur. Its really interesting you mention attirtion as being necessary for the acceptance of a theory because thats basically the crux of his theory: for the final phase of the paradigm shift to occur you need the proponents of the old theory to basically die off, 'cause ain't no manner of logic or evidence gonna convince them otherwise.