Accidental Blogger

A general interest blog

Recent posts

about

Relativity Theory and Quantum Physics TRIVIA, For The Rest of Us. (Norman)

Since this is my first post on Accidental Blogger, I thought I would do something short, interesting, and very different. How about a trivia quiz for all you budding physicists and astronomers.

Relativity Theory and Quantum Physics TRIVIA, For The Rest of Us.

1. Who was the first to formulate, correctly, a theory of relativity?

2. Who first worked out the formula E = mc2?

3. Who is associated with the Theory of Invariance?

4. What contribution did Einstein make to moral relativism?

5. Who first worked out the mathematics and theory of the Big Bang?

6. What contribution did the Vatican make to modern cosmology?

7. What was Hubble's first estimate of the age of the universe?

8. What Pope wanted to announce that the Big Bang theory was proof of the biblical account of God's creation of the universe?

9. Who told this Pope that it was a stupid idea?

10. What Pope told physicists, astronomers, and cosmologists NOT to study the moment of creation, per the Big Bang theory?

11. Why did this Pope caution the scientists?

12. What prominent physicist reacted to this Pope's caution, by deciding to do it anyway?

13. Who wanted to know "The Mind of God?"

14. Who said that quantum physics has no deep meaning, only formulas that work?

15. Why did Heisenberg isolate himself on a North Sea island to work on his Uncertainty Principle?

16. Who coined the phrase, "Spooky action at a distance?"

17. Who said that whatever was not explained by his physics, was guided by the hand of God?

18. What expanded at a rate that was faster than the speed of light in the very early universe?

19. Time travel has been experimentally proved, but in what direction? Travel into the future, or into the past?

Put your answers in the comments box. I'll post the answers later.

While you are at it, please send this TRIVIA link to your friends and favorite scientists.

Posted in

16 responses to “Relativity Theory and Quantum Physics TRIVIA, For The Rest of Us. (Norman)”

  1. Pete Chapman

    Max Planck.
    Albert Einstein.
    Albert Einstein.
    None that he was aware of.
    Georges Lemaître
    They were Georges Lemaître’s employer.
    2 billion years.
    Pius XII
    Georges Lemaître
    John Paul II.
    He believed that looking into the Big Bang, the moment of creation, was to look at God’s work.
    Stephen Hawking.
    Stephen Hawking.
    Werner Heisenberg
    ???
    Einstein.
    Einstein.
    The universe?
    Into the future.

    Like

    Reply
  2. Elatia Harris

    Great to see you here, Norman. I’m very poorly equipped to play, however. But Pete isn’t! I will definitely forward the link around. Is it fair to research your answers? Or is it more like playing “Botticelli” — you know it or you don’t?

    Like

    Reply
  3. prasad

    Welcome, Norman, and what a nice start! You could be the next Stephen Fry :)

    Like

    Reply
  4. Dean C. Rowan

    That depends.
    The inventor of the “equals” sign.
    A very stubborn person.
    Came up with “When in Rome…”
    Hollywood.
    Commissioned a bunch of paintings by Raphael depicting the sky.
    Fifty years. He was 2 1/2 at the time.
    The Disco Pope.
    Phil Spector.
    Pope…hey, look over there!
    There were as of yet no international regulations requiring labeling of such research.
    Lady Gaga.
    Hendrix groupies.
    Hordes of desperate Physics 200 undergrads.
    Better TV reception.
    DJ Action at a Distance.
    Pumping Iron era Schwarzenegger. Oh, I thought the question read “physique.”
    My Thanksgiving Day waistline.
    I guess you’ve never been stuck on a freeway in LA.

    Like

    Reply
  5. Norman Costa

    Elatia,
    Looking it up is fine. It’s a lot of fun for those who do.

    Like

    Reply
  6. Norman Costa

    Prasad,
    I had no idea Stephen Fry asked the same question. I was going to ask an additional question, “Whose theory was debunked by relativity?” I’m sorry I didn’t.
    Thanks a lot.

    Like

    Reply
  7. Norman Costa

    Dean,
    I think I’d have to give you credit for no. 6.

    Like

    Reply
  8. Norman Costa

    Dean,
    Also, no. 14.

    Like

    Reply
  9. Norman Costa

    Pete,
    It’s time to put you out of your misery and give you the answers. You did very well.
    1. Max Planck. Wrong. It was Galileo Galilei. He forever put to rest the falsity of Aristotle’s notion that the natural state of any object is at rest. There is no universal reference to momentum and position. An object’s momentum and position were relative to an arbitrary object.
    2. Albert Einstein. Wrong. It was Friedrich Hasenöhrl in 1904. Hasenöhrl did not appreciate the implications of mass-energy equivalence.
    3. Albert Einstein.
    4. None that he was aware of.
    5. Georges Lemaître
    6. They were Georges Lemaître’s employer.
    7. 2 billion years.
    8. Pius XII
    9. Georges Lemaître
    10. John Paul II.
    11. He believed that looking into the Big Bang, the moment of creation, was to look at God’s work.
    12. Stephen Hawking.
    13. Stephen Hawking.
    14. Werner Heisenberg Wrong. Niels Bohr. However, it may be that Werner agreed and said the same thing.
    15. ??? He suffered from airborne allergies, and the windy North Sea islands were a perfect place to find relief.
    16. Einstein.
    17. Einstein. Wrong. It was Sir Isaac Newton. His was an early version of the God of the gaps.
    18. The universe? Wrong. It was space. Objects (matter) cannot go faster than light speed. Space is not an object or matter so it does not have the same limitation. This is Guth’s inflationary theory.
    19. Into the future.

    Like

    Reply
  10. Elatia Harris

    Wow! At the risk of sounding like a dumb blond without benefit of being blond, Norman, I would almost have to be told how to look this stuff up. What can I say? “I just live here.”
    I remember when I was 9 my father telling me astrology had to be wrong, because however it looked to anyone looking, the stars did not line up a certain way — at all. That Orion didn’t really exist, especially not if you were on Mars, and that, anyway, we were all as permeable as Orion. I think I ran from the room. If only I’d known Daddy had been reading Galileo…
    Prasad, you watch British quiz shows when you’re not lunching Lisa Randall? I love it.
    Dean, Raphael did not paint the skies for the Vatican — that I know about. Please tell me if you know better, however. His best student, Giulio Romano, painted the night sky for the Gonzaga family in the ducal palace of Mantua. The Chamber of the Zodiac — deep blue frescoed ceilings, dazzling and restful.
    Now, tell me how you would measure the expansion of the immaterial, or of that which does not have the limitation of being either object or matter, in order to know the speed of light did not obtain. Why does this not fly in the face of any idea of measurement? Are you saying it’s immeasurable in its expansion while being finite?

    Like

    Reply
  11. Norman Costa

    Prasad,
    Is it true you know Lisa Randall? Of course you know her. If you invite me to lunch or dinner or breakfast when you will be dining with Lisa, I will pick up the tab. You can say we know each other from AB, and I happen to be in town. I’ll see if Elatia will be available and we’ll all have a treat.
    I would assign research teams in my Psychological Research Methods classes. The teams would have names – prominent women in science. Lisa Randall is one of the names I used. Most of my students were women, and I thought it would be an inspiration for them.
    Something is very special about the woman who proposed that gravity, the weakest force around, is actually force leaking from another universe.

    Like

    Reply
  12. Dean C. Rowan

    Elatia: I certainly don’t know better. In fact, I had in mind one Raphael with which I’m familiar, Madonna and Child with Book, and its luminous sky. The Vatican connection was a joke, prompted by the trivia questions. I really don’t even know the provenance of the small work in Pasadena I so admire.

    Like

    Reply
  13. Norman Costa

    Dean,
    Sorry. I have to take away credit for no.6.

    Like

    Reply
  14. Dean C. Rowan

    Gosh, Norman. Is this what honesty and transparency get me?

    Like

    Reply
  15. Pete Chapman

    Numbers 17 and 18 ….What was I thinking? It was “lots of fun” (that should explain some of the correct ones). I think Dean is honestly and transparently the winner. And I think Elatia’s “Now, tell me how you would measure the expansion of the immaterial …while being finite?” would make a great question 20.

    Like

    Reply
  16. prasad

    Ah Norman, unfortunately I don’t know her know her, like lunch her know her. I did take a course from Randall once and skipped doing all the work. Turns out that’s not such a smart idea :)

    Like

    Reply

Leave a reply to Dean C. Rowan Cancel reply