  Part of the controversy may be laid to the fact that cosmology was a new science, and disputes about methodology in new sciences are not rare in the history of the sciences. What is rare about this case, however, is the vigor, sometimes even bitterness, with which the philosophical controversy was waged. Another reason for the controversy lies in the fact that cosmology is a data-poor science: observations are hard-won and rare, and they frequently must be run through elaborate theoretical manipulations and corrections in order to make sense at all. With a paucity of data results, scientists must rely upon philosophical argument to undergird their views about how the scientific work should be done.