Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea Test | Final Test - Hard

Charles Seife
This set of Lesson Plans consists of approximately 130 pages of tests, essay questions, lessons, and other teaching materials.

Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea Test | Final Test - Hard

Charles Seife
This set of Lesson Plans consists of approximately 130 pages of tests, essay questions, lessons, and other teaching materials.
Buy the Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea Lesson Plans
Name: _________________________ Period: ___________________

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. When was Lord Kelvin born?

2. The author asserts in Chapter 6, “Infinity's Twin” that with the introduction of imaginary numbers, the fundamental theorem of what mathematical branch was discovered?

3. According to the author in Chapter 7, “Absolute Zeros,” Max Planck came up with a new equation that solved the ultraviolet catastrophe but implied that energy was released in discrete packets that have come to be called what?

4. When was Jean le Rond d'Alembert born?

5. Calculus allowed Newton to combine the known natural laws of physics into one grand set of laws that could be expressed as what?

Short Essay Questions

1. What problems were encountered in calculus with zero? How did zero apply to the physical world, according to the author in Chapter 5, “Infinite Zeros and Infidel Mathematicians”?

2. Who created calculus? How did calculus differ from the other mathematical fields, according to the author in Chapter 5, “Infinite Zeros and Infidel Mathematicians”?

3. The author states in Chapter 6, “Infinity’s Twin” that before imaginary numbers could be accepted, several developments had to occur. Which was the first?

4. How did l’Hopital address the problem of zero, according to the author in Chapter 5, “Infinite Zeros and Infidel Mathematicians”?

5. What discovery did Georg Cantor make regarding different types of infinities? How are these types defined?

6. What is expressed through the Rayleigh-Jeans law? How does this law relate to zero?

7. How does the elimination of zero help general relativity theory, according to the author in Chapter 8, “Zero Hour at Ground Zero”?

8. Who was Carl Gauss? What discovery did he make regarding imaginary numbers?

9. How did the field of quantum mechanics address the problem of zero in thermodynamics?

10. How is string theory described by the author in Chapter 8, “Zero Hour at Ground Zero”?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe and discuss the advancements made in mathematics, music, and philosophy by Pythagoras. What is the Pythagorean Theorem? When was it developed? What were the beliefs of the Pythagoreans?

Essay Topic 2

Describe and discuss the origins and history of mathematics within Islamic culture. When was the House of Wisdom built? Who first coined the term “algebra”? When was the term coined?

Essay Topic 3

Describe the USS Yorktown and its computer crash in 1997 as examined in Chapter 0, “Null and Void.” What program was the ship a test-bed for in the U.S. Navy? What caused the crash? How was the problem approached?

(see the answer keys)

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