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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 made DNA obsolete as the only source of information about humans?

2. What question does Hawking ask about extraterrestrials?

3. What are the size of biological brains limited by?

4. What kind of fluctuations do we have to consider to answer whether or not time travel is possible?

5. According to Hawking, what lies ahead in the future if no great disaster occurs?

Short Essay Questions

1. At what rate is the computational power of computers increasing, and what computational rate might they actually reach?

2. What is the Schrodinger equation?

3. How do cosmic strings relate to space-time?

4. What might happen if we do not destroy ourselves?

5. What partially restores determinism and why?

6. What does Hawking think about the possible technological level of extraterrestrials?

7. What did Strominger and Vafa postulate in 1996?

8. What might p-branes be able to predict?

9. What is a time travel "horizon"?

10. What will happen as brains increase in size?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe the ether theory. Explain why this theory fell apart and what Einstein's role was in its deconstruction. Be sure to include at least two reasons the ether theory became redundant and unnecessary.

Essay Topic 2

Examine the relationship of Einstein's theory of relativity to Newton's law of gravity. Name three ways these theories are similar or differ. Be sure to explain the contemporary significance of each theory and their effects on modern scientific thought.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay that answers the following questions: What is M-theory? What is its relationship to various string models? What does Hawking believe about M-theory? The essay must include at least two supporting evidences from the book, and one example from an outside text.

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