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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Part 2, Chapter 7.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Astronomer Edmond Halley believed that the distance from the Earth to the sun could be deduced from the:
(a) Distance to the moon.
(b) Size of solar flares.
(c) Position of Mars.
(d) Transits of Venus.

2. How do today's professional astronomers search for supernovae?
(a) Using classical mathematical predictions.
(b) Hiring interns to peer through telescopes 24/7.
(c) With digital cameras and computers.
(d) In collaboration with astrologers.

3. When was Pluto discovered?
(a) 1957.
(b) 1876.
(c) 1930.
(d) 1892.

4. What did the French Compte de Buffon claim about the New World (the Americas) compared to the known Old World?
(a) The New World was much more fertile than the old.
(b) Everything was smaller and inferior in the New World.
(c) Unusual, enormous species would be found in the New World.
(d) Diseases of the New World would be much more deadly than in the Old World.

5. In addition to being a seventeenth-century astronomer, Christopher Wren designed:
(a) Swords.
(b) Cathedrals.
(c) Eyeglasses.
(d) Clothes.

Short Answer Questions

1. Fred Hoyle came up with the term "Big Bang" while trying to:

2. Halley believed that once scientists figured out the distance from the sun to the Earth, they could then calculate what?

3. About how many stars can be seen from Earth using a two-inch telescope?

4. Today, scientists know that radiation in high doses is:

5. According to the Reverend William Buckland, the biblical reference to "in the beginning" with regards to the formation of Earth could refer to:

(see the answer key)

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