View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What element does Sagan say motivated the space programs of the 60s and 70s?

2. What planet is the "evening star"?

3. Which of the following is NOT a major resource on Mars that makes it viable for "terraforming"?

4. Sagan worries about how societies of what type would handle the technology that could stop Earth-bound asteroids?

5. What planet in the solar system obviously suffers from a severe greenhouse gas effect?

Short Essay Questions

1. What location in the solar system either have or are believed to have once had volcanoes?

2. What does Sagan conclude about the morality of terraforming and planetary colonization?

3. Why does Sagan believe it is unlikely that a manned mission to Mars will be carried out in the near future?

4. What does Sagan believe would be necessary for the safety of the human race to be secured?

5. What profit motivations exist in a manned mission to Mars?

6. How does Sagan believe that humanity will progress in the next hundred or so generations?

7. What does Sagan think were the major upsides of the Apollo missions?

8. What does Sagan want to see on Mars?

9. How could planetary tides pull a small planet apart?

10. What would the process of "terraforming" on Mars be like?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Uranus was the first new planet discovered, aside from the five known to ancient cultures.

1) Discus the discovery of Uranus and what made this discovery unusual and unique.

2) Describe the planet Uranus, including a discussion of its unique inclination and theories to explain this feature.

3) Discuss Sagan's impression of the planet and the likelihood that it or its moons could harbor life.

Essay Topic 2

Terraforming is the process of modifying and entire planet to make it more hospitable for human life.

1) Describe the processes of terraforming that Sagan outlines for Mars and the moon Titan.

2) Discuss the moral aspects of the effort of terraforming, and summarize Sagan's views on the issue.

3) Describe, according to information and arguments from the book, some of the benefits that the human species as a whole would reap through the wholesale terraforming of another planet.

Essay Topic 3

The heliocentric theory was developed by Copernicus, Galileo, and others, and uprooted the dogmatically endorsed geocentric theory, forever changing the nature of scientific thought in the West.

1) Describe heliocentric theory and the scientists who proposed and developed it.

2) Explain some of the abnormalities and observations that lent support to the heliocentric theory.

3) Discuss the reasons that Sagan believes heliocentric theory was opposed by the church.

4) Describe the impact of the victory of the heliocentric theory over the geocentric model on scientific thinking in the West.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 757 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample