2. In 1971, Mike Voorhies discovered an amazing fossil bed in Nebraska full of skeletons of prehistoric animals killed 12 millions years ago. How did they die?

3. According to Einstein's theories, what is the nature of space?

4. Which of the following is not a layer of Earth?

5. A caldera is a:

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the Superstring Theory explain quarks?

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

3. Where do earthquakes occur?

4. Describe Albert Einstein before he became well known in the scientific community.

5. Describe inner solar system asteroids.

6. Describe what happened after the last supervolcano erupted on Earth. When did this happen?

7. How did the English scientist Henry Cavendish determine the weight of Earth?

8. What did geologist Harry Hess discover about the Atlantic Ocean in the 1960s that validated the idea that the continents are drifting apart?

9. What happened when Max Planck was advised to study math instead of physics?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe what the author means about Yellowstone being a supervolcano. What do scientists know about Yellowstone's history? How did it form? What is a caldera? Describe other supervolcanoes the author writes about.

Essay Topic 2

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?