  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.
