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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. By what year was Einstein famous?

2. What may the universe not have, given quantum mechanics?

3. What did the philosopher Immanuel Kant worry about concerning time and Newton's model?

4. Which project produced Fat Man and Little Boy?

5. What does Hawking resist believing in?

Short Essay Questions

1. What new sort of symmetry was discovered in the 1970s?

2. What is the no boundary condition, and what does it imply?

3. What is Hawking's view about mathematical models?

4. Briefly describe Einstein's involvement in the events of WWII.

5. What does Hawking believe the possibility of intelligent beings' existence depends on?

6. What did Penrose and Hawking's theory have to say about the universe's history?

7. Why can't we coherently ask why the universe is the way it is?

8. Describe imaginary time.

9. What is space-time?

10. Who worked on quantum mechanics in the 1920s, and what discovery was made?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What are zero point fluctuations and what serious effects do they have on the quantum theory of gravity? Be sure to discuss Feynman, Schwinger and Tomonaga's work with zero point fluctuations.

Essay Topic 2

Describe the history of the theory of curved spaces. What is this theory's relationship to the idea of space-time? Cite two examples from Chapter One that identify key participants, events, or ideas related to this topic.

Essay Topic 3

Discussing the future is very prevalent throughout Hawking's book. Write an essay that focuses on two key anxieties and two hopes that Hawking, another scientist, or you, have, for the future of humanity's development, whether it be biological or electronic.

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