Episode 3: When Science Conquers Fear

Question 1

What is disaster Greek for?

Answer 1

Disaster is from the Greek for Bad Star

Question 2

When did the Chinese start documenting the movements of the stars and comets?

Answer 2

1400BC

Question 3

What is the Oort cloud?

Answer 3

The Oort Cloud is an extended shell of icy objects that exist in the outermost reaches of the solar system. It is named after astronomer Jan Oort, who first theorised its existence. The Oort Cloud is roughly spherical, and is thought to be the origin of most of the long-period comets that have been observed.

Question 4

How far is our sun from the centre of our galaxy?

Answer 4

Our sun is 30,000 light years from the centre of our galaxy. Jan Oort was the first to calculate this

Question 5

Who mapped the shape of our galaxy?

Answer 5

Jan Oort used a radio telescope to map the galaxy’s spiral structure

Question 6

What may be at the centre of our galaxy?

Answer 6

A super massive black hole. Jan Oort discovered the centre of the galaxy was a place of titanic explosions which may be as a result of the gravity from a super massive black hole.

Question 7

What causes the tails of comets?

Answer 7

As comets plummet toward the inner solar system the sun bakes the comet melting the ice in and on the comet. The halo and tail are a result of the melting layers of a comet trailing into space

Question 8

What does NUILIUS IN VERBA mean?

Answer 8

NUILIUS IN VERBA is latin for “See for yourself” which sums up the heart of the scientific method. It was the motto of the Royal Society of London which was the worlds clearing house of scientific discoveries.

Question 9

Describe Edmund Halley’s early life and achievements

Answer 9

Halley’s father nurtured his curiosity and always bought him the finest scientific aftifacts and tools to continue his learning and support his passion. His father funded his first exhibition to complete the first complete star chart of the southern hemisphere. It took Halley over 12 months due to poor weather to complete his map of the stars. Halley’s map was a sensation amongst merchants as they could now navigate with the stars anywhere on earth.

Question 10

Who was Robert Hooke and what were some of his achievements?

Answer 10

Robert Hooke was a scientific inquirer of science, astronomy and physics. Hooke discovered the cell by looking at a piece of cork through his own invention the compound microscope. He also anticipated many aspects of Darwin’s theory 200 years beforehand. Hooke also improved the telescope and after the London fires of 1666 he teamed up with architect Christopher Ren to redesign and rebuild the city. He was the foremost experimentalist of his age. He used coiled springs to derive the law of elasticity known today as Hooke’s Law. He perfected the air pump and also experimented with cannabis.

Question 11

What was significant about early coffee houses in London?

Answer 11

Coffee houses in London were a place for people of all classes to come and discuss ideas and trade knowledge. In coffee houses a poor man needn’t give up his seat to a rich man, nor did he need to succumb to his views

Question 12

Christopher Ren, Robert Hooke and Edmund Halley met at a coffee house to discuss what?

Answer 12

The mystery of the planetary movements and the shape and speed of their orbits. Ren offered a book of 40 shillings to anyone who could do the math and solve the mystery. Hooke claimed the book would be his as he had already done the calculations in past months, however when asked to present his work he was unable….

Question 13

Describe Isaac Newton’s early life

Answer 13

Isaac Newton was born on christmas day in England in 1642. Before he had even opened his eyes his father was dead. His mother left him when he was 3 and didn’t return until he was 11 with a new family and a step father who Isaac despised. Newton’s refuge from his family life was his passion for understanding how things work especially how nature worked. In 1661 he entered Trinity University and was a consistently lousy student

Question 14

What did Isaac Newton spend a lot of his life on that amounted to nothing?

Answer 14

Isaac Newton believed in Alchemy. He spent a large amount of time attempting to turn common metals into silver and gold or trying to brew the elixir of life. He was also obsessed with deciphering hidden codes within the texts of the bible. He studied many translations and editions of the bible and created elaborate equations to predict the second coming. His works on these projects never amounted to anything.

Question 15

Why was Isaac Newton a recluse when Halley came to find him at Cambridge University?

Answer 15

Isaac Newton had gone into hiding 13 years prior to Halley’s attempts at contacting him after Robert Hooke publicly accused Newton of stealing his works on the spectrum of light. In fact it was Isaac Newton who discovered many answers about the nature of light when he was only 22 years old.

Question 16

What was Isaac Newton’s response when Halley asked him to calculate why the planets orbit in ellipses at varying speeds?

Answer 16

Newton informed Halley that he had already done the calculations on this some 5 years ago and that the force of gravity decreases inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the centres of the masses. However Newton could not find his previous workings on this but assured Halley he would rewrite his formulas and send them to him. Halley was amazed that he had not heard of this previously and anxiously awaited word from Newton. When he was about to lose hope a message arrived from Newton containing universal laws of gravity and motion.

Question 17

What was Halley’s payment for presenting the works of Newton to the Royal Society of London?

Answer 17

The Royal Society of London had spent their entire annual budget on publishing and printing “The History of Fish” a scientific book filled with detailed drawings of species of fish. Sales on the book were not as successful as they had hoped and they had to pay Halley in copies of the book itself!

Question 18

What was Robert Hooke’s second accusation of Isaac Newton?

Answer 18

Robert Hooke accused Newton of stealing the inverse square law of gravity from him. When Hooke was confronted by Ren and Halley about the lack of evidence and calculations to support his claims he was unable to present any of his own mathematical calculations. Halley informed him his empty claims may well convince elsewhere but drew his attention to the Royal Society’s motto “Nuilius in Verba” (on the word of noone or take nobody’s word for it)

Question 19

What was Isaac Newton’s contribution to space travel?

Answer 19

Isaac Newton reasoned that with enough velocity that the bounds of gravity could be broken and an object could be projected out into space and into orbit of the earth. Hence creating the path to space exploration and rocket science

Question 20

How did Edmund Halley support Isaac Newton and his works?

Answer 20

Edmund Halley encouraged Newton to concentrate his efforts into universal laws and astronomy. He also paid for the publishing of all 3 volumes of Newton’s universal formulas out of his own financial resources. He supported Newton throughout his works and defended his integrity whenever it was questioned due to Hooke’s empty accusations

Question 21

What were some of Halley’s achievements after his contributions to bringing Newton’s discoveries to the public?

Answer 21

Halley was commanded by the king to lead 3 ocean voyages (scientific expeditions) to solve navigation problems the english navy were having. Halley used these opportunities to make the first map of the world’s magnetic fields. Halley also perfected the diving bell and used it to start a commercial salvage operations company. He personally tested his own inventions. Halley invented the weather map, the symbols he used are still used today. Halley laid the groundwork for population sciences by calculating how many babies the average family would need to produce to maintain balanced population. He gave us the scale of the solar system. Halley was the first to realise the stars weren’t fixed by comparing his observations against ancient Greek observations.

Question 22

What is a common misconception about Halley and the discoveries of comets?

Answer 22

It is a common misconception that Halley discovered Halley’s comet where as in fact discovering a comet was one of few things that Halley never achieved. Halley discovered that comets are bound to the sun in long elliptical orbits and that the comet(s) seen in 1541, 1607 and 1682 were one in the same. Halley predicted its return more than 50 years in the future and specifically where in the sky it would pass. When the comet returned it was named Halley’s comet in honour of Halley’s exceptional prediction

Question 23

What was Halley’s final act?

Answer 23

Halley’s final act at age 85 was to order a glass of wine which he then downed and took his last breath

Question 24

What caused Hooke’s death?

Answer 24

Hooke died due to his habits of daily doses of wormwood, opium and mercury

Question 25

How is it believed Newton took his final revenge on Robert Hooke?

Answer 25

After Hooke died Newton replaced him as president of the Royal Society of London. It is believed that one night Newton removed Hooke’s portrait from the walls. To this day there is no depiction of Robert Hooke that wasn’t recreated from a written description.

Question 26

What is Newton’s universal law of gravitation?

Answer 26

Newton’s law of universal gravitation states that a particle attracts every other particle in the universe using a force that is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between their centers.[note 1] This is a general physical law derived from empirical observations by what Isaac Newton called inductive reasoning

Question 27

What is Hooke’s Law?

Answer 27

Hooke’s Law is a principle of physics that states that the force needed to extend or compress a spring by some distance is proportional to that distance.