How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
Both men looked at each other, then back at the data. Each had hoped for a different result. They had done these experiments over again and again, eliminating all possible sources of noise. The ragged bursts would not vanish.
"It's a goddam message," Cooper said. "Must be." (12.10-11)
In science, you might want certain results, but the results you get are the ones you get. For a good scientist, like Gordon, this means his hypotheses, and ultimately his worldview, must incorporate that data—not the other way around.
Quote #5
It was an example of what he thought of as the Law of Controversy: Passion was inversely proportional to the amount of real information available. (14.26)
This is arguably the most famous line from the novel; in fact, fans have come to think of this as Benford's Law of Controversy. The idea behind it is simple enough: Science provides us with real information about the world that we can then use to make meaningful decisions based more on reason than pure gut-reaction emotion.
Quote #6
To Gordon the important point was how science was done, how answers were always provisional, always awaiting the outcome of future experiments. The Union expected adventure and excitement and more evidence of a university on its way to greatness. Across this gulf some information flowed, but not much. (16.84)
Science isn't about producing absolute answers. Every answer in science is provisional, simply waiting for new information that could thoroughly revise it. This quote suggests that the modern media machine is only interested in absolute, easy-to-digest answers, which make for good headlines but not much else.