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

Short Answer Questions

1. During World War 1, Einstein was a professor in which city?

2. A long time friend of Galileo's held which high office in the church?

3. The man who was convicted of trying to murder Einstein was fined how much?

4. Who discovered the equation that governs the electron?

5. Einstein divided his life between politics and what?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did the Catholic church demand that Galileo stop writing about Copernican theory?

2. What punishment did the Inquisition order for Galileo?

3. Hawking considers Galileo to be what?

4. Hawking concludes that life is only possible during the expansion phase of the universe for what reason?

5. Addressing the question of why the universe exists was once the job of philosophers, but now is not done because of what reason?

6. What is, according to the book, the most recent attempt to find a complete unified theory?

7. What is one theory about what happens when particles match up with their anti-particles on the event horizon of a black hole?

8. What is ironic about Einstein's involvement in U.S. politics?

9. If quantum mechanics is used, then the universe has always done what?

10. What is the difference between string theory and the other theories?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the theory of relativity? How is the theory of relativity important, and related to, the understanding of the universe? Please use the text to support your answers.

Essay Topic 2

Pick a scientist (Einstein, Galileo or Newton) and discuss, using examples from the book, that scientist's contributions to the view of the universe we hold today.

Essay Topic 3

What is Hawking's definition of a scientific theory? Using this definition, discuss why (or why not) various theories in the book are scientific theories. Discuss at least three theories and use the book to support your answers.

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