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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. 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?
2. The reason for the reform of the Gregorian calendar was to solidify what Christian holiday to a particular time of year?
3. 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?
4. 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?
5. What god within Hinduism represents both creator and destroyer?
Short Essay Questions
1. How does the concept of zero relate to the beliefs of Hinduism?
2. How did the Protestant Reformation influence the Aristotelian philosophy in the West?
3. What results came about when Indian mathematicians began separating numbers from shapes, according to the author in Chapter 3, “Nothing Ventured”?
4. What reason does the author give for why the Greeks and Romans resisted using zero in their mathematical systems in Chapter 1, “Nothing Doing”?
5. What discoveries did Archimedes make in the mathematical world?
6. What were Blaise Pascal’s theological beliefs? How was zero viewed in his beliefs?
7. How are multiplication and division involving zero described in Chapter 1, “Nothing Doing”?
8. How did zero enter into Babylonian mathematics, according to the author in Chapter 1, “Nothing Doing”?
9. 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?
10. How did zero enter into Indian mathematics, according to the author in Chapter 3, “Nothing Ventured”?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Discuss the origins, history, and evolution of mathematics in ancient Egypt. How was geometry developed in Egypt? How did the Egyptians use mathematics in the creation of the pyramids? How did the Nile relate to their use of mathematics?
Essay Topic 2
Discuss the biography and work of Filippo Brunelleschi and the introduction of linear perspective. What did paintings look like before the invention of the vanishing point? How did Brunelleschi discover the concept of the vanishing point? How did this concept involve zero?
Essay Topic 3
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?
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This section contains 902 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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