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

2. On what scale does Hawking think time travel occurs?

3. What does the Schrodinger equation specify?

4. Name two things that are doubling every forty years.

5. What is a practical limit on the design of faster computers?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What does Hawking believe black holes radiate?

3. What did Strominger and Vafa postulate in 1996?

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

5. What will happen as brains increase in size?

6. What final thought does Hawking have about Star Trek and humanity, in the closing of Chapter 6?

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

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

9. How many books are published a year, and what does Hawking have to say about the good ones?

10. What is a time travel "horizon"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Hawking states that the human race must be able to better itself since it will be dealing with an "increasingly complex world." Write an essay that supports or negates this argument. Be sure to include data from Chapters Five, Six, or Seven and at least two other supporting examples from your own research.

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

Hawking's extensive research of black holes has provided us with informative clues for how black holes might actually work. Write an essay that uses Hawking's research to formulate a summary of our knowledge of black holes before and after Hawking's scientific work.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 820 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample