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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 the middle of the 20th Century, Hendrik Casmir and what other Dutch physicist proposed the existence of a force between two polarizable atoms?
2. During what years did Georg Cantor live?
3. What refers to a now-obsolete theory and model developed as an alternative to the Big Bang theory of the universe's origin?
4. What term refers to numbers that are "infinite" in the sense that they are larger than all finite numbers, yet not necessarily absolutely infinite?
5. What term in theoretical physics refers to an extension of string theory in which 11 dimensions of spacetime are identified?
Short Essay Questions
1. How many dimensions are required for string theory to work? How are these dimensions described in Chapter 8, “Zero Hour at Ground Zero”?
2. What is expressed through the Rayleigh-Jeans law? How does this law relate to zero?
3. What discovery did Georg Cantor make regarding different types of infinities? How are these types defined?
4. What was discovered by Albert Einstein’s solution to the photoelectric effect?
5. 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?
6. What discovery did Friedrich Riemann make in the field of projective geometry?
7. How does the elimination of zero help general relativity theory, according to the author in Chapter 8, “Zero Hour at Ground Zero”?
8. What does the author say thermodynamics has taught us in Chapter 7, “Absolute Zeros”?
9. How did Max Planck address the problem of the ultraviolet catastrophe?
10. What problem do black holes present in physics, according to the author in Chapter 8, “Zero Hour at Ground Zero”?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Define and discuss imaginary numbers and their impact on algebra and mathematic philosophy. Who discovered imaginary numbers and when? How do imaginary numbers behave in comparison to real numbers?
Essay Topic 2
Discuss the work of Sir Isaac Newton, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Johannes Kepler, and the origins and development of calculus. When did Newton and Leibniz independently create calculus? What conflict occurred between the two? When did this conflict end?
Essay Topic 3
Describe the USS Yorktown and its computer crash in 1997 as examined in Chapter 0, “Null and Void.” What program was the ship a test-bed for in the U.S. Navy? What caused the crash? How was the problem approached?
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This section contains 864 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) |
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