Module 1

Question 0

1b. Define: Papyrus

Answer 0

An ancient form of paper, made from a plant of the same name

Question 1

1a. Define: Science

Answer 1

An endeavor dedicated to the accumulation and classification of observable facts in order to formulate general laws about the natural world.

Question 2

1c. Define: Spontaneous generation

Answer 2

The idea that living organisms can be spontaneously formed from non-living substances

Question 3

2. There were three lessons from the history of science I specifically mentioned in the text. What are they?

Answer 3

a. We should support a scientific idea on the evidence, not based on the people who agree with it.
b. Scientific progress depends not only on scientists, but also on government and culture.
c. Scientific progress occurs by building on the work of previous scientists.

Question 4

3. Who was Imhotep?

Answer 4

He was an ancient Egyptian doctor.

Question 5

4. Although the ancient Egyptians had incredibly advanced medical practices for their time, we do not consider them scientists. Why not?

Answer 5

They never used their observations to explain the world around them.

Question 6

5. Who were Thales, Anaximander, and Anaximenes?

Answer 6

They were ancient Greeks who were among the first scientists.

Question 7

6. Leucippus and his student, Democritus, and remembered for what idea?

Answer 7

atoms

Question 8

7. Who championed the idea of spontaneous generation and is responsible for it being believed for so long?

Answer 8

Aristotle

Question 9

8. Who came up with the first classification scheme for living creatures?

Answer 9

Aristotle

Question 10

9. What is the main difference between the geocentric system and the heliocentric system? Which is correct?

Answer 10

The geocentric system placed the earth at the center of the universe and had both the planets and the stars traveling around the earth. The heliocentric system has the sun at the center and the planets traveling around it. The heliocentric system is more correct.

Question 11

10. What was the main goal of the alchemists?

Answer 11

They wanted to turn lead into gold.

Question 12

11. Why don’t we consider the alchemists to the scientists?

Answer 12

They were not true scientists because their approach was strictly trial and error.

Question 13

12. What was the main reason that science progressed near the end of the Dark Ages?

Answer 13

Science began to progress towards the end of the Dark Ages because the Christian worldview began to replace the Roman worldview.

Question 14

13. Who is considered to be the first modern scientist and why does he deserve that honor?

Answer 14

Grosseteste was the first modern scientist because he was first to use the scientific method.

Question 15

14. Two great works were published in 1543. Who were the authors and what were the subjects?

Answer 15

The authors were Copernicus and Vesalius. The book by Copernicus was about the arrangement of the stars and planets in space, and the book by Vesalius was on the human body.

Question 16

15. Although Galileo collected an enormous amount of data in support of the heliocentric system, he was forced to publicly reject it. Why?

Answer 16

Galileo was forced to recant belief in the heliocentric system by the Roman Catholic Church.

Question 17

16. Galileo built an instrument based on descriptions he had heard of a military device. This allowed him to collect a lot moe data about the heavens. What did he build?

Answer 17

telescope

Question 18

17. Who was Sir Isaac Newton? Name at least three of his accomplishments.

Answer 18

Newton was one of the greatest scientists of all time. He laid down the laws of motion, developed a universal law of gravity, invented calculus, wrote many commentaries on the Bible, showed white light is really composed of many different colors of light, and came up with a completely design for telescopes.

Question 19

18. A major change in scientific approach took place during the Enlightenment. What was good about the change and what was bad about it?

Answer 19

The good part of the change was that science began to stop relying on the authority of past great scientists. The bad part of the change was that science began to move away from the authority of the Bible.

Question 20

19. What was Lavoisier’s greatest contribution the science?

Answer 20

He came up with the Law of Mass Conservation

Question 21

20. What is John Dalton remembered for?

Answer 21

the first detailed atomic theory

Question 22

21. What is Charles Darwin remembered for?

Answer 22

The Origin of Species

Question 23

22. What does “immutability of species” mean, and who showed that this notion is wrong?

Answer 23

The immutable of species refers to the mistaken idea that living creatures cannot change. Darwin showed that this is just not true.

Question 24

23. What is Gregor Mendel remembered for?

Answer 24

his work on how traits are passed on during reproduction (genetics)

Question 25

24. James Clark Maxwell is known as the founder of modern____.

Answer 25

physics

Question 26

25. What law did James Joule demonstrate to be true?

Answer 26

The First Law of Thermodynamics

Question 27

26. What is the fundamental assumption behind quantum mechanics? Who first proposed it?

Answer 27

Max Planck first made the assumption that energy comes in small packets called “quanta.”

Question 28

27. What is Niels Bohr remembered for?

Answer 28

his mathematical description of the atom

Question 29

28. Einstein was one of the founders of the quantum mechanical revolution. He also is famous for two other ideas. What at they?

Answer 29

the special theory of relativity and the general theory of relativity