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

2. Where did Copernicus live?
(a) Egypt.
(b) Rome.
(c) Prussia.
(d) France.

3. Approximately when was Giordano Bruno born?
(a) 1623.
(b) 1366.
(c) 1548.
(d) 1459.

4. In 1996 and 1997, the USS Yorktown was equipped with a network of how many dual 200 MHz Pentium Pro-based computers running Windows NT 4.0?
(a) 14.
(b) 35.
(c) 27.
(d) 10.

5. What was the fifth element that Aristotle proposed, in addition to earth, water, fire, and air?
(a) Aether.
(b) Sanctities.
(c) Metal.
(d) Volume.

Short Answer Questions

1. What word did the Indians use for zero during Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Khwarizmi’s time?

2. The author states in Chapter 2, “Nothing Comes of Nothing” that the concepts of infinity and the void frightened the ancient Greeks. They feared the infinite because it threatened the possibility of what?

3. What term refers to the worship of multiple deities?

4. What in graphical perspective refers to a point in the picture plane π that is determined by a line in space?

5. Zeno of Elea followed what Eleatic school founder in believing that the nature of the universe was changeless and immobile?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the author describe Islam’s history in the seventh century in Chapter 3, “Nothing Ventured”?

2. What advancements in mathematics were made by René Descartes?

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

4. What paradox of Zeno of Elea’s is presented by the author in Chapter 2, “Nothing Comes of Nothing”?

5. 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”?

6. What caused the USS Yorktown to have a computer meltdown in 1997, according to the author in Chapter 0, “Null and Void”? How is the ship described?

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

8. What results came about when Indian mathematicians began separating numbers from shapes, according to the author in Chapter 3, “Nothing Ventured”?

9. How does the author describe the early counting systems of prehistoric mathematics in Chapter 1, “Nothing Doing”?

10. What is the focus of the book, as established by the author in Chapter 0, “Null and Void”?

(see the answer keys)

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