Scientific Thought

Isaac Asimov's Super Quiz

Published Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Subject: SCIENTIFIC THOUGHT
(e.g., What is Erno Rubik's best-known invention? Answer: Rubik's Cube.)

FRESHMAN LEVEL

1. Which is better vision: 20/20 or 20/15?
Answer________

2. Which Greek philosopher was noted for his paradoxes?
Answer________

3. What term is derived from the two words "taximeter" and "cabriolet"?
Answer________

GRADUATE LEVEL

4. Ralph Nader's book "Unsafe at Any Speed" hastened the demise of this vehicle.
Answer________

5. Two-word term for the meltdown of a nuclear reactor deep into the earth.
Answer________

6. Informal term for the part of the elbow over which the ulnar nerve passes.
Answer________

PH.D. LEVEL

7. What distance is calculated to be 24,902 miles (40,075 kilometers)?
Answer________

8. What is "Inventure Place," in Akron, Ohio?
Answer________

9. How long does a U.S. patent for a new invention last?
Answer________

ANSWERS:
1. 20/15.
2. Zeno.
3. Taxicab.
4. Chevrolet Corvair.
5. China Syndrome.
6. Funny bone.
7. Distance around Earth at the equator.
8. The National Inventors Hall of Fame.
9. Twenty years.