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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. In what year did Bartholomeu Diaz round the Cape of Good Hope on the southern tip if Africa?

2. Where was Isaac Newton born?

3. What is a device with a special eyepiece to measure the size of a planet as seen through a telescope?

4. What book did Copernicus have published near the time of his death?

5. Newton's first law expanded on the theory of inertia by asserting that an object stays in motion unless it is what?

Short Essay Questions

1. What did Galileo attempt do bring physics into the study of in Chapter 5: "The World in Retrograde"?

2. What had remained a major problem for explorers at sea as described by the author in Chapter 7: "A Plumb Line to the Sun"?

3. How are the early years of Copernicus described in Chapter 4: "The Sun Worshipers"? What and where did he study?

4. What achievements did Eudoxus go on to accomplish after his studies? Who did he influence, according to the author in Chapter 1: "The Dome of Heaven"?

5. What sparked the reawakening of interest in the cosmos, according to the author in Chapter 3: "The Discovery of the Earth"?

6. What did Galileo invent and develop as a result of debt in Chapter 5: "The World in Retrograde"?

7. What achievements did Aristarchus accomplish in the sciences according to the author in Chapter 2: "Raising (and Lowering) the Roof"? What did Archimedes write?

8. What interests did Isaac Newton have in addition to science, according to the author in Chapter 6: "Newton's Reach"?

9. What scholars and astronomers influenced the theories of Copernicus, according to the author in Chapter 4: "The Sun Worshipers"?

10. How did Newton demolish Arisotle's dual universe according to the author in Chapter 6: "Newton's Reach"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyze and discuss the theories of Isaac Newton, Rene Descartes, and Plato. How was Newton influenced by Descartes and Plato? What advancements did Newton make on the theories of the earlier astronomers and philosophers? Also discuss Newton's fascinations with religion, alchemy and magic. How did these interests conflict with his scientific interests?

Essay Topic 2

Describe and discuss the Great Pyramid, the Egyptians, Stonehenge, and the cosmological views of ancient civilizations as described in the book. What purpose did the study of cosmology serve these people? In what cultures was there particular interest in cosmology? Why?

Essay Topic 3

Analyze and discuss the impact of Columbus' voyage to the New World on the history of the Western world. Where did Columbus believe he had landed? Who discovered the truth of Columbus's travels? Who financed Columbus' trip and why?

(see the answer keys)

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