I'll try... The following is my opinion and others have valid reasons for differing... I just hate seeing someone or something getting a bad rap unfairly.

In my opinion, modern, dual pivot brakes are miles better than vintage single pivot SIDE PULL brakes with a few exceptions in the late 80s. Try an old Campy or Shimano, etc. single pivot side pull compared to modern dual pivot brakes and you will see a big difference. As a result, in recent memory, dual pivot was a big improvement in stopping compared anything made earlier. The key is recent memory.

But, vintage center pull brakes are also dual pivot! A quality, forged center pull like Winemann, Dia Compe, Universal, or Mafac with modern brake pads are awesome and easily outperform all but the best single pivot brakes. Even with old pads they aren't too shabby. Yes, really good modern dual pivots are a tiny bit stiffer, but pure stopping power, either can lock up your wheels if you are average or moderately weighted. Power past the ability to lock up the wheel is surplus.

In my opinion, the myth of side pull being better than center pull started in the '70s when Campagnolo brought out their Record side pull. It was a few grams lighter, had less hardware and was totally cool looking. So, with the trendiness typical of the race crowd, it became very uncool to use center pulls. Not may people would admit the side pulls were a big drop in stopping power... but they were!
Also, cheap department store bikes came with really thin, flexible, crappy center pulls that gave cps a bad rep.

Oh.. and center pulls are cool on quality '70 and older bikes.... no disgrace and much street cred in the C&V crowd. My favorites are Dia Compe Gran Compe http://www.velobase.com/ViewComponen...=117&AbsPos=27
The Gran Compes have a nicer finish than any other vintage cp I've seen, but I don't think they are any better stopping than the others I listed above.