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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. What does Hawking say math is useful for?

2. Hawking calls the possibility of the universe collapsing "the big ____?"

3. Galileo wrote about Copernicus' theory in which language?

4. Laplace, at the beginning of the 19th century, postulated what idea?

5. Galileo belied that the earth did what?

Short Essay Questions

1. When you combine the general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics, what does that mean for the universe?

2. What is one theory about what happens when particles match up with their anti-particles on the event horizon of a black hole?

3. What is the estimated concentration of black holes?

4. When did the early ideas that the universe is deterministic fall apart?

5. Real time is described in math using what?

6. String theory implies what about other dimensions?

7. What is the difference between string theory and the other theories?

8. What does a weak form of the anthropic principle hold for the view of the universe?

9. When and why did Einstein become a pacifist?

10. Hawking says that when the universe loses all order, what will happen with life?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Using what has been presented in the book, what concepts would string theory have to embody in order to be considered the theory that unites the general theory of relativity with quantum mechanics? What issues would string theory have to overcome? Use examples from the book to support your answer.

Essay Topic 2

Based on your reading of the book, why does humanity try to understand the universe and what progress has humanity made in understanding it? Please support your answers with examples from the text.

Essay Topic 3

A thesis is a main point, or argument, that an essay or book is intended to support. If there was a thesis for this book, what would it be and why? Please cite examples from the book.

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This section contains 538 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample