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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Zeno of Elea followed what Eleatic school founder in believing that the nature of the universe was changeless and immobile?
(a) Archimedes.
(b) Pythagoras.
(c) Aeschylus.
(d) Parmenides.

2. During what decade did Henry VIII reject the Papal authority?
(a) The 1550s.
(b) The 1490s.
(c) The 1530s.
(d) The 1620s.

3. What refers to a system in which the location of a point is given by coordinates that represent its distances from perpendicular lines that intersect at a point called the origin?
(a) The Pythagorean system.
(b) The Babylonian system.
(c) Cartesian coordinate system.
(d) The Golden Ratio.

4. What branch of mathematics are the ancient Egyptians credited with creating in order to successfully build objects to block the flooding of the Nile River each year?
(a) Quantum mechanics.
(b) Projective physics.
(c) Algebra.
(d) Geometry.

5. How many minutes made up an hour in the ancient Greek system?
(a) 50.
(b) 60.
(c) 30.
(d) 100.

Short Answer Questions

1. Zero is the only number that when added to itself does what?

2. According to the author in Chapter 2, “Nothing Comes of Nothing,” the Pythagorean view tied numbers to what?

3. Pythagoreanism developed into two separate schools of thought. What group was called “the learners” in Greek?

4. The House of Wisdom was based in Baghdad during what centuries?

5. Aristotle referred to Zeno of Elea as the inventor of what?

Short Essay Questions

1. What Italian mathematician was responsible for the introduction of zero to Christianity and the Western world, according to the author in Chapter 3, “Nothing Ventured”?

2. How did Aristotle approach the concept of zero, according to the author in Chapter 2, “Nothing Comes of Nothing”?

3. Where does the author claim zero was “born” in Chapter 1, “Nothing Doing”? How was zero involved in early mathematics?

4. How did Filippo Brunelleschi introduce the concept of zero to the Italian Renaissance?

5. What theory was developed through Blaise Pascal’s mathematical approach to theology?

6. What mathematical developments was Pythagoras credited with in ancient Greece?

7. How does the author describe the relationship between early Christianity and zero in Chapter 2, “Nothing Comes of Nothing”?

8. What were Blaise Pascal’s theological beliefs? How was zero viewed in his beliefs?

9. What discoveries did Archimedes make in the mathematical world?

10. How did zero enter into Babylonian mathematics, according to the author in Chapter 1, “Nothing Doing”?

(see the answer keys)

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