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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 are cosmic strings?

2. When was absolute time overthrown as an idea?

3. What will be preserved if this equation determines the wave function?

4. What kind of advanced development does Hawking predict for humanity?

5. As the brain increases in size, what may become slower as it grows more complex?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the Schrodinger equation?

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

3. What did the physicist John Wheeler mean when he said, "a black hole has no hair"?

4. What is the grandfather paradox?

5. What will happen as brains increase in size?

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

7. What does Hawking think he can prove about space-time paths?

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

9. What are three of the things Hawking declares have increased exponentially, doubling every forty years of less?

10. What does much of the possibility of time travel depend upon?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

Describe the history of the equation E = mc2. What is the significance of this equation? Be sure to include a description of the following terms: energy, mass, relativity, and the speed of light.

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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