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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. What term refers to an elementary particle, the quantum of light and all other forms of electromagnetic radiation?
(a) Electron.
(b) Photon.
(c) Nucleus.
(d) Radon.

2. What kind of stars did the Hubble space telescope use to measure the size of the universe?
(a) Hypergiant stars.
(b) White dwarfs.
(c) Cepheid stars.
(d) RR Lyrae stars.

3. What is the study of geometric properties that are invariant under projective transformations?
(a) Projective geometry.
(b) Classical relativity.
(c) Projective algebra.
(d) General relativity.

4. A primary difficulty in the creation of a “Theory of Everything” is that most attempts to apply quantum mechanics to the gravitational field in the same way as for the electromagnetic field fails due to the breakdown of what?
(a) The Golden Ratio.
(b) The renormalization procedure.
(c) The gravitational pull.
(d) Differential equations.

5. Lord Kelvin is well known for determining the correct value of absolute zero. Absolute zero is approximately what temperature Celsius?
(a) -32 degrees.
(b) -273.15 degrees.
(c) -59 degrees.
(d) -125.32 degrees.

Short Answer Questions

1. Bosonic string theory was developed in what decade?

2. In the middle of the 20th Century, Hendrik Casmir and what other Dutch physicist proposed the existence of a force between two polarizable atoms?

3. Bernhard Riemann was able to show how to generate the geometry for what, according to the author in Chapter 6, “Infinity’s Twin”?

4. When was Bernhard Riemann born?

5. What term refers to the viewpoint that regards reason as the chief source and test of knowledge?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who was Carl Gauss? What discovery did he make regarding imaginary numbers?

2. How does the elimination of zero help general relativity theory, according to the author in Chapter 8, “Zero Hour at Ground Zero”?

3. Who devised the concept of a limit in calculus? What problems did the limit solve?

4. What problems were encountered in calculus with zero? How did zero apply to the physical world, according to the author in Chapter 5, “Infinite Zeros and Infidel Mathematicians”?

5. What is expressed through the Rayleigh-Jeans law? How does this law relate to zero?

6. How did l’Hopital address the problem of zero, according to the author in Chapter 5, “Infinite Zeros and Infidel Mathematicians”?

7. How did Max Planck address the problem of the ultraviolet catastrophe?

8. What does the author say thermodynamics has taught us in Chapter 7, “Absolute Zeros”?

9. How is string theory described by the author in Chapter 8, “Zero Hour at Ground Zero”?

10. The author states in Chapter 6, “Infinity’s Twin” that before imaginary numbers could be accepted, several developments had to occur. Which was the first?

(see the answer keys)

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