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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. The first eruption of Yellowstone took place how many years ago?

2. Who postponed his honeymoon in order to write a scientific paper about the movements of electrons?

3. According to the Caltech physicist Richard Feynman, the most important discovery ever made is what?

4. According to the author, humans today have 625 percent more what in their bloodstream compared to previous generations?

5. In 1903, who won the Nobel Prize in physics for discovering radioactivity?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain Albert Einstein's theory of space curvature using a tennis ball and an ant.

2. How does the Superstring Theory explain quarks?

3. Why does Bryson consider Pluto to be an oddity?

4. What explanation did James Hutton come up with to describe the phenomenon of seashell fossils frequently found on mountaintops?

5. Explain the misunderstanding of radiation during the early 1900s.

6. When scientists first tried to grasp the idea of atoms, what did they disagree on?

7. Who was Bob Christiansen, and how did he determine that Yellowstone is a supervolcano?

8. Describe what happened when astronomer Edmond Halley asked Sir Isaac Newton for mathematical help.

9. Describe what happened to an enormous thighbone discovered in New Jersey in 1789.

10. What are quarks? How are they categorized and classified?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The author shares many stories of one person making an important discovery and someone else getting credit for it. Cite two examples of this. Why does Bryson discuss these cases? What do you feel he is trying to reveal about scientific discoveries and the scientific community?

Essay Topic 2

How did the dinosaurs become extinct? Explain the sequence of events that happened after the asteroid hit. What was the outcome to other life forms? What conditions changed in the aftermath? What group of animals became dominant following the dinosaur extinction?

Essay Topic 3

Describe earthquakes, including the mechanism behind them, where they can hit, and how they are measured.

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