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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. 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?

2. Approximately when did Johannes Kepler live?

3. The author asserts in Chapter 8, “Zero Hour at Ground Zero” that today astronomers estimate the universe as being how old?

4. In Chapter 8, “Zero Hour at Ground Zero,” the author states that the Hubble telescope saw that most galaxies were flying away from one another by using red-shifting and blue-shifting effects, the cosmological equivalent of what?

5. According to the author in Chapter 5, “Infinite Zeros and Infidel Mathematicians,” Jean le Rond d'Alembert had satisfied the mathematician's need for what?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. 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?

3. How were Georg Cantor’s mathematical principles applied to his theology? Who disagreed with his vision and why?

4. How many dimensions are required for string theory to work? How are these dimensions described in Chapter 8, “Zero Hour at Ground Zero”?

5. How did the field of quantum mechanics address the problem of zero in thermodynamics?

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

7. Who created calculus? How did calculus differ from the other mathematical fields, according to the author in Chapter 5, “Infinite Zeros and Infidel Mathematicians”?

8. Who discovered “absolute zero”? How is absolute zero defined in Chapter 7, “Absolute Zeros”?

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

10. What are differential equations? Who first developed differential equations?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the biography, works, and mathematical developments of Mohammed ibn-Musa al-Khowarizmi. When was his work, Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing completed? What did this work entail?

Essay Topic 2

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 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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