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 is the name of the man in charge of the government patent office while Feynman is in Los Alamos?

2. Where are the top secret papers first kept at Los Alamos?

3. Who is the head of Feynman's department at Cornell?

4. What is the name of the dance hall Feynman likes to go to during his freshman year at MIT?

5. What is the name of the town where Feynman was born?

Short Essay Questions

1. What kind of work does Feynman do for the army?

2. What amusing thing does Feynman discover years after his work at the Metaplast Corporation?

3. What does Feynman discover about being a member of a fraternity while attending MIT?

4. What makes Feynman nervous about attending Princeton and what poses challenges for him?

5. What "party trick" does Feynman do with his ability to smell?

6. What challenges does Feynman face in his undergraduate courses?

7. What happens when Feynman encounters a Japanese man who wants him to use an abacus to solve math problems?

8. What is Feynman's fascination with locks and safes?

9. Where does Feynman learn the mind-reading trick he tries on his fellow students at Princeton?

10. Why is Feynman rejected by the army draft board?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss what Feynman calls his "puzzle drive"--the part of him that longs to find the solution to puzzles. Give three detailed examples of how he uses his "puzzle drive" to solve a problem or make a discovery.

Essay Topic 2

Feynman is a self-reported "one-sided" scientist. Discuss how he achieves success in so many artistic mediums.

Essay Topic 3

Explain what is meant by the last line in the book: "So I have just one wish for you--the good luck to be somewhere where you are free to maintain the kind of integrity I have described, and where you do not feel forced by a need to maintain your position in the organization, or financial support, or so on, to lose your integrity. May you have that freedom." What kind of integrity is Feynman referring to? How did he show this integrity throughout his life?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,738 words (approx. 6 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample