I would rank the sections 2 > 1 > 3. The first section did a great job of introducing the scenario and dealing with academic politics, and the second section was the most 'speculative' I have seen Asimov get, very very well done. However, the third section seemed to just exist to wrap up the central question of the story, none of the characters were particularly interesting (in fact, a lot seemed to be cribbed from The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, what with the idea that

moon colonists would be 'free-spirited'

).