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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. The introduction of nothingness and zero into Jewish theology led in part to what offshoot Jewish mysticism?
(a) Sufism.
(b) Kabbalism.
(c) Hasidism.
(d) Orthodoxy.

2. Approximately when did Pythagoras live?
(a) 1200-1195 BC.
(b) 570-495 BC.
(c) 684-610 BC.
(d) 481-412 BC.

3. The author states in Chapter 3, “Nothing Ventured” that Indian mathematicians first learned of zero from the Babylonians by way of what?
(a) The British Empire.
(b) The Greek conquest.
(c) The Roman conquest.
(d) The Spanish Inquisition.

4. What symbol in the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 70?
(a) Omega.
(b) Upsilon.
(c) Xi.
(d) Omicron.

5. Aristotle was a student of what Classical Greek philosopher?
(a) Plato.
(b) Socrates.
(c) Archimedes.
(d) Pythagoras.

6. What region in the Middle East is widely considered to be the cradle of civilization?
(a) The Nile Region.
(b) The Twin Towers.
(c) The Fertile Crescent.
(d) The Mayan Region.

7. According to the author in Chapter 2, “Nothing Comes of Nothing,” the ratio of zero to any number is what?
(a) ∞.
(b) 3.
(c) 0.
(d) 1.

8. What word did the Arabs use for zero during Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Khwarizmi’s time?
(a) Siro.
(b) Sifr.
(c) Zephyr.
(d) Zeno.

9. Where did the Renaissance begin?
(a) Italy.
(b) Spain.
(c) Great Britain.
(d) France.

10. What 12 Century rabbi sought to reconcile Greek philosophy with the Semitic Bible?
(a) Shlomo ben Aderet.
(b) Robert Wexler.
(c) Nahmanides.
(d) Maimonides.

11. In September of 1997, a crewmember entered a zero into the database field on the computers of the USS Yorktown, leading to what type of error?
(a) A divide by zero error.
(b) A subtraction by zero error.
(c) An addition by zero error.
(d) A multiply by zero error.

12. What term refers to the religious or philosophical concept that the soul is reborn after biological death?
(a) Dualism.
(b) Polytheism.
(c) Reincarnation.
(d) Creationism.

13. The USS Yorktown was used as the test-bed for what Navy program beginning in 1996?
(a) The Smart Ship program.
(b) The Subatomic program.
(c) The Drone program.
(d) The Eastern Invasion program.

14. What word did the Indians use for zero during Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Khwarizmi’s time?
(a) Zeno.
(b) Nil.
(c) Siro.
(d) Sunya.

15. What does the author refer to as “zero’s twin” in the book?
(a) Infinity.
(b) Thirteen.
(c) One.
(d) Seven.

Short Answer Questions

1. The Renaissance roughly spanned the period of what centuries?

2. Approximately when did Aristotle live?

3. The Italian word “zefiro,” meaning “west wind” derived from what Latin and Greek word?

4. The author states in Chapter 3, “Nothing Ventured” that for the Indians, numerals without geometric significance gave birth to what field of mathematics?

5. Approximately when did Copernicus live?

(see the answer keys)

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