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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. What is Bohr’s conception of the work that the two scientists did together in the 1920s?

2. What language does Bohr claim he is speaking?

3. What season was it when Heisenberg first visited Copenhagen?

4. Which scientist insulted Heisenberg’s knowledge?

5. What do the men do at the end of the play?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Heisenberg say about his understanding of the bomb?

2. What did Heisenberg tell minor Nazi officials?

3. How did Heisenberg make revisions to his uncertainty paper?

4. What extreme act does Heisenberg claim that Bohr would have been justified in doing?

5. Who oversees Heisenberg’s research in Germany?

6. What did Einstein show about measurement?

7. In 1942, where is the German project in relationship to the American atomic project?

8. What was the impetus for Heisenberg’s attaining the chair at Leipzig?

9. When did Fermi achieve the first self-sustaining chain reaction, in relationship to Heisenberg?

10. What were the conditions under which Heisenberg was allowed to practice science after the war?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Heisenberg states at various points that he knew how to correctly calculate the uranium needed, but that he didn’t do it. What is the evidence that he knew but didn’t act? What is the evidence that he didn’t know how to calculate the number? How does that change the character and the motives he presents here?

Essay Topic 2

Margrethe makes various aside comments regarding Heisenberg. What is her opinion of him? Is it a static opinion, or does it change over the course of the play? If so, how, and why?

Essay Topic 3

Both Heisenberg and Bohr were important scientists of the twentieth century. Research their work. What were their final, most enduring contributions to science? Which can be read metaphorically, in the context of the play?

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This section contains 473 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample