Timescape Science Quotes
How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"Well, actually… " [Johnny] hesitated. "He said the scientists got us into this beastly mess in the first place and they're the only ones who can get us out of it now, if anyone can."
"He's not the first one to say that, Johnny. That's a truism." (1.16-17)
There are two aspects of this quote that help us understand this theme. The first is that this really is a self-evident truism in the novel, and the second is that this novel will not consider science blameless. It is likely the best way for humans to advance their knowledge and survival, but it still can cause slip ups from time to time.
Quote #2
"Hell, I don't either. But something's screwing up the nuclear resonance detection. We've got to track it down."
Cooper squinted at the erratic lines, as though measuring in his mind's eye the alterations that had to be made to study the problem further. "How?"
"If we can't remove the noise, study it. Find out what it's coming from. Is it occurring in all the indium antimonide samples? Does it filter in from some other lab here? Or is it something new? That sort of thing." (3.62-64)
Gordon's approach to figuring out the odd noise is an encapsulated scientific method. Ask a question, test your hypothesis, try to filter out outside influences, analyze the data, and try to derive information. It can be a slow and complex process, but this novel shows it as it really is rather than your typical Hollywood montage approach.
Quote #3
Peterson leaned back in his seat and studied Canadian wastes slipping by below. Yes, perhaps that was it. For decades now the picture of the world painted by the scientists had become strange, distant, unbelievable. Far easier, then, to ignore it than try to understand. Things were too complicated. Why bother? Turn on the telly, luv. Right. (11.143)
More and more, it seems as though only specialists can properly appreciate new scientific discoveries. It might not seem like much of a problem, but think about how often science crops up in your everyday life or in politics. Can people who ignore scientific learning be fit to make decisions based on that learning?
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.
Quote #7
Equations appeared by sleight of hand, festooned with new symbols like fresh Christmas tree decorations. The theories, when Gordon took the time to listen, would begin and end in midair; they had no connection with anything else known in physics, and always violated the first rule of a scientific model: they were uncheckable. (17.61)
The scientific model requires that information needs to be empirical: that is, if the kid sitting next to you performs an experiment, you should be able to perform the same experiment and get the same results. The problem with the crackpots visiting Gordon is that there is no way for him to double-check their observations. It's the scientific equivalent of crossing your heart with one hand while having your fingers crossed with the other.
Quote #8
"It seems to me what we have is too much science."
"Too much applied work without really understanding it, yes. Without pursuing the basics, you get a generation of technicians. That's what we have now."
"More checking to see the unforeseen side effects—"
"To see you must have vision," [Peterson] said earnestly. "I'm just beginning to catch on to that fact. All this talk of bloody 'social relevant' work assumes a bureaucrat somewhere is the best judge of what's useful." (22.24-27)
This quote connects the theme of science with that of politics, one of the great conflicts of the novel. Politicians might not have the best grasp of scientific discoveries, especially as science takes us to new places quite unlike our everyday experiences—yet ultimately, they are the ones who get to make the judgment calls about funding, as well as what discoveries to implement and how. If this doesn't sit quite right with you, well, that's kind of the point.
Quote #9
There was no choice between beauty and truth, really. You had to wind up with both. In art, elegance was a whore of a word, bent a different way by each generation of critics. In physics, though, there was some fragile lesson to be learned from past millennia. Theories were more elegant if they could be transformed mathematically to other frames, other observers. (31.9)
As we saw earlier, one of the defining factors of science, and one of the main reasons the novel considers it so important, is that its observations can be transferred to other observers. To do that, the simpler the law—that is, the fewer assumptions and steps—the better. This is known as Occam's Razor.
Quote #10
[Gordon] had not really wanted any of this. The feel of it seemed somehow wrong to him—science carried on in public, science elbowing for time on the 6 o'clock news, science as a commodity. (42.3)
One of the major worries of the novel regarding science is that it will be stripped down to a commodity, something that will provide a good headline but will ultimately become hollow and empty of true meaning. It's like of like taking healthy vegetables and smothering them in cheese sauce… or something like that, anyway.