View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What did the scientists who made the bomb discover about the chain reaction?

2. What critical mass did Heisenberg think was needed for the bomb?

3. In what direction is Elsinore Castle?

4. What is Heisenberg’s response to Bohr’s criticism of his thought process?

5. What non-scientific talent of Kramers’ do Heisenberg and Bohr discuss?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What was strange about the cadmium that Heisenberg had in Haigerloch?

3. Who oversees Heisenberg’s research in Germany?

4. Where does Heisenberg spend the last months of the war, and why?

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

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

7. What did people think about Heisenberg’s reaction to Schrödinger’s mechanics?

8. How much more time did Heisenberg think he needed to make his reaction work?

9. What did Heisenberg tell minor Nazi officials?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe fission. What is the significance of this process? In what ways might this be viewed as a metaphor for the relationship between Bohr and Heisenberg?

Essay Topic 2

Margrethe is present for the entire play, yet is not herself a scientist. What is the role of Margrethe in the play? Why is she important to our understanding of the situation?

Essay Topic 3

Elsinore is a place with very specific literary roots. What are these roots, according to the play? Research the real-life location. Why might it be an appropriate setting for some of Bohr and Heisenberg’s contributions to science?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 476 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample