What Does the "IST" Do? Trivia Quiz

Answer: X-rays

A roentgenologist is a person with specialized knowledge in using x-rays to diagnose and treat illness. Another word for a roentgenologist is a radiologist. The name roentgenologist comes from Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen who discovered x-rays in 1895.

Answer: Classifying organisms

A chemotaxonomist uses biological similarities and differences to classify organisms. They study compounds such as proteins, amino acids, nucleic acids, and peptides in order to properly classify plants and animals using these biochemical markers.

Answer: Taking pictures

A photojournalist has specialized knowledge in photography. They are responsible for reporting news stories using mainly photographs. Another "IST", journalists rely on the written word to impart news, but photojournalists use both images and text to report the news.

Answer: Prescription drugs

A pharmacologist is a person who has received education and training that qualifies them to prepare and dispense medication prescriptions. They have an in-depth knowledge of how medications act in the body, and how they interact with one another. Pharmacists must adhere to a code of practice that ensures that the supply of medications is within the law.

They are also qualified to advise patients about when to take the medication, what side effects may be present, and what to do if extreme side effects or allergic reactions occur.

Answer: Moths and butterflies

A lepidopterist studies or collects moths and butterflies. The name lepidopterist comes from the name of the Order of butterflies and moths, Lepidoptera. A few famous people have been lepidopterists over the years, including Winston Churchill. Churchill enjoyed butterflies, but was concerned about the apparent diminishing numbers of butterflies in the UK.

This led him to plan a butterfly garden around his house at Chartwell, Kent in 1946. This famous lepidopterist would hatch about 1,500 chrysalids each year in a summer house.

When they successfully hatched, he would set them free in his garden.

Answer: Cultural plant lore

An ethnobotanist studies the traditional knowledge of indigenous people to learn about plants. They learn how local plants have traditionally been used for clothing, medicines, food, and in ceremonies. Ethnobotanists date back to a Greek doctor named Pedanius Dioscorides who travelled throughout the Roman Empire in 1 CE, documenting local plants and their advantageous properties as he went.

Another example of an ethnobotanist is explorer Jacques Cartier who learned from North American indigenous people that a tea made with coniferous needles could prevent scurvy. Today, ethnobotanists mainly study in areas such as the North and South America where they team up with indigenous people to learn more about the medicinal properties of certain plants for the pharmaceutical industry.

Answer: History of names

An onomatologist is one who studies the origin, history, and use of the names of people and places. The field that an onomatologist studies is known as onomastics, or onomatology. The word onomatologist is derived from the Greek word ónoma, or "name".

There are four main areas that an onomatologist can study. These include toponymy (the study of place names), anthroponomastics (the study of personal names), literary onomastics (the study of names in literature), and socio-onomastics (the study of names within a certain culture).

Answer: Beetles

A coleopterist is a kind of entomologist. An entomologist is a scientist who studies insects. A coleopterist is not interested in all insects. Rather, they become specialists in studying beetles. The word coleopterist is derived from the classification system for insects, where beetles fall onto the order Coleoptera.

There is an international society known as "The Coleopterists Society" where beetle-lovers come together to learn more about their six-legged objects of study through conferences and journals.

Answer: History of words

An etymologist studies the history and origin of words. The word etymologist is derived from the Greek word "étumon" which means "true sense". In order to trace the origin of words, etymologists study ancient texts, varying dialects, comparing oral languages, and changes in word meaning over time. Etymologists mainly study four different ways that words originate.

These include language change over time, borrowing words from other languages, using existing words to form new words (e.g., shortening an existing word to form a new word, or compounding two existing words to form one new word), and onomatopoeia (creating words from sounds like "boom", "zap", and "boing").

Answer: Extravagant language

A rhapsodist is one who speaks in extravagant language. Another word for a rhapsodist is a rhapsode. The word rhapsode comes from the Ancient Greek "rhapsōidein" which meant "to sew songs together". In ancient times, rhapsodists performed the works of Homer (Iliad and Odyssey) as well as the works of others. Rhapsodists are often shown in ancient art wearing travelling cloaks and carrying a walking staff.

This suggests that they were travelling performers who moved around to provide entertainment to people in various locales. Today, the word rhapsodist can be used to describe someone who enjoys reciting epic poetry, or someone speaking or writing about a topic using a great amount of enthusiasm and delight.