View a FREE sample

This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. When was William Herschel born?
(a) 1819.
(b) 1845.
(c) 1738.
(d) 1920.

2. What does SETI stand for?
(a) Stationary energy transmission intelligence.
(b) Search for extraterrestrial intelligence.
(c) Satellite for elliptical integers.
(d) Static energy for transintelligence.

3. What astrophysicist first referred to a single quantum of energy that erupted and unleashed the universe as the "big bang"?
(a) Claudius Ptolemy.
(b) Georges Lemaitre.
(c) Fred Hoyle.
(d) Edwin Hubble.

4. What is a branch of physics that studies the existence and interactions of particles that are the constituents of what is usually referred to as matter or radiation?
(a) Cartography.
(b) Particle physics.
(c) Triangulation.
(d) Heliocentricism.

5. What is the third premise of "On the Origin of Species"?
(a) Living creatures create more off-spring than nature can support.
(b) Survival is based on nature versus nurture.
(c) There are variations within species.
(d) Survival is based on the process of natural selection.

6. Who estimated that the existence of over one hundred thousand such spiral nebulae was possible?
(a) James Keeler.
(b) Aristotle.
(c) John Calvin.
(d) William Parsons.

7. The subject of a universe of galaxies emerged again when Johann Lambert was appointed where?
(a) The University of Paris.
(b) The Berlin Academy of Sciences.
(c) Oxford University.
(d) Harvard University.

8. According to the author in Chapter 19, what has shown that the same matter and elements exist everywhere?
(a) Quantum physics.
(b) Black holes.
(c) Darwinian evolution.
(d) Astrophysics.

9. Who concluded that the process of the earth's creation was part of an infinite repeating cycle of development and destruction?
(a) Fred Hoyle.
(b) Edwin Hubble.
(c) George Gamow.
(d) Aristotle.

10. In Chapter 16, the author describes theoretical physicists, saying,"Theoretical physicists, like artists are guided in their work by aesthetic as well as" what concerns?
(a) Subjective.
(b) Objective.
(c) Rational.
(d) Irrational.

11. There is suspicion that there may be undetected matter which astronomers refer to as what?
(a) Parallax.
(b) Micrometer.
(c) Dark matter.
(d) Quantum flux.

12. Who worked under George Hale, director of the Mount Wilson Observatory, as described by the author in Chapter 9?
(a) Jean Richer.
(b) Mikolai Kopernik.
(c) Harlow Shapley.
(d) Emanuel Kant.

13. According to the author, the universe could have emerged from nothing without violating any natural laws since the energy emitted from celestial objects (positive) is balanced by what, resulting in a net zero amount of energy?
(a) Dark matter.
(b) Parallax.
(c) Quantum flux.
(d) Gravity.

14. When was Charles Darwin born?
(a) 1809.
(b) 1798.
(c) 1853.
(d) 1902.

15. In Chapter 9, the author discusses how there were two schools of thought about elliptical nebulae. One was the theory of what by Kant and Lambert?
(a) Quantum mechanics.
(b) The "island universe."
(c) The Tychonic system.
(d) The "nebular hypothesis."

Short Answer Questions

1. What refers to the change in frequency of a wave for an observer moving relative to the source of the wave?

2. What refers to one of the extremely small constituents of matter, as an atom or nucleus?

3. Although Darwin wrote his theory in a 230-page essay, he did not publish it for how long?

4. What are fuzzy patches of glowing material that can be observed throughout the universe?

5. In Chapter 15, the author writes that physicists learned that when an electron was elevated into a higher orbit, it moved from lower to higher orbit without what?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 517 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample