This paper discusses the role of the discovery and analysis of the first binary pulsar in settling the long-running quadrupole formula controversy over the status of gravitational waves as a prediction of general relativity. It also discusses how we should understand the resolution of this controversy in the context of the so-called science wars. In other words it discusses whether concepts such as interpretive flexibility and the experimenters' regress can shed light on what can also be seen as a classical confirmation of realist expectations, in which a theoretical controversy is settled by a conclusive experiment.
CITATION STYLE
Kennefick, D. (2018). Relativistic Lighthouses: The Role of the Binary Pulsar in Proving the Existence of Gravitational Waves (pp. 111–136). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7708-6_6
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