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. 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?

2. The author notes in Chapter 2, “Nothing Comes of Nothing” that the West resisted the concept of zero for how many years?

3. Filippo Brunelleschi was born in approximately what year?

4. The introduction of nothingness and zero into Jewish theology led in part to what offshoot Jewish mysticism?

5. Filippo Brunelleschi famously engineered the dome of what cathedral?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

2. What reason does the author give for why the Greeks and Romans resisted using zero in their mathematical systems in Chapter 1, “Nothing Doing”?

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

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

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

6. How did mathematics and the concept of zero evolve in India through the 5th Century AD?

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

8. How does the author describe the ancient Greek and Roman mathematical systems in Chapter 1, “Nothing Doing”?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe and discuss the concept of the “limit” proposed by Jean Le Ron D'Alembert and its impact on calculus and mathematics. What impact did the discoveries of Jean Le Ron D'Alembert have on the concepts of zero and infinity?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss Guillaume de l'Hôpital, Bishop Berkeley, and l'Hôpital's rule. How are derivatives used to evaluate limits involving indeterminate forms under l'Hôpital's rule? How did these advancements deal with the problem of zero?

Essay Topic 3

Describe and discuss the origins and history of mathematics within Islamic culture. When was the House of Wisdom built? Who first coined the term “algebra”? When was the term coined?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 846 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample