The Name Escapes Me... Trivia Quiz

Answer: B.F. Skinner

Buurhus Skinner was a man of many talents. An author, psychologist, social philosopher, behaviorist and an inventor. He is best known for his work in behavior analysis, setting up a school to research psychology and espousing the theory that free will is an illusion, that our actions are the consequences of our previous actions.

A prolific author, he would publish 21 books during his lifetime, including the aforementioned utopian work, "Walden Two", which was released in 1948. That book furthers his thoughts on the rejection of free will and, as a result, created a fair deal of controversy at the time. Almost prophetic, the book was, initially dismissed as mere science fiction, but many of the methods he'd created/highlighted, in the work, about altering human behavior, are now known methods in behavior studies.

Answer: No, but they are related

Barbara Bush was born Barbara Pierce and there is a link to President Franklin Pierce in that they both shared a common ancestor in Thomas Pierce. Some have claimed that President Pierce was Barbara's great-great uncle, however, this has been disproved by genealogical charts, which show her as the former President's fourth cousin, four times removed.

Born in June, 1925, Barbara will, sadly, be primarily remembered as the wife of a President and the mother of another President, which tends to take away the spotlight from her other achievements. She put a lot of effort into promoting and working with several charitable causes, in particular, those linked toward the improvement of literacy. She became the first candidate's spouse to address the Republican National Conference, was a strong supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment and, despite being the First Lady, she preferred to emphasize her domestic interests, such as family life, church and gardening to the world.

Answer: Max Planck

German born Planck was a theoretical physicist who'd made a number substantial contributions to this field. However, his main claim to fame, was his creation of quantum theory, in the process turning our understanding of atomic and subatomic actions on its head. One of the outcomes of his work was the establishment of the Planck Constant.

In basic terms, this helps us to understand how atoms and subatomic particles moved or worked. This, in turn, was crucial to the development of such things as computer chips, solar panels and lasers. Scientist are also using his theories to improve their knowledge of stellar evolution.

Answer: William Wyler

Wyler was born in Alsace, Germany, in 1902 and was deemed to be a troublemaker during his school years. He immigrated to the United States in 1920 and, immediately, commenced employment at Universal Studios. Four years later he was being hailed as the studio's youngest director. Four years further on, he is directing Universal's first sound production, "Hell's Heroes" (1929).

In 1936 he earned his first Oscar nomination, for the film "Dodsworth" which would trigger a remarkable run of success. He would direct the likes of Audrey Hepburn ("Roman Holiday" - 1953) and Barbra Streisand ("Funny Girl" - 1968) to becoming Oscar winners in their debut starring roles. He also guided Olivia de Havilland and Bette Davis to their second acting Oscars and garnered three directing Oscars for himself. Those were for "Mrs. Miniver" (1942), "The Best Years of Our Lives" (1946) and "Ben-Hur" (1959). Seems like he able to channel all that energy that he'd spent making trouble into making an outstanding career.

Answer: Sergei Prokofiev

Without being disrespectful, it seems that even in death the spotlight can be shifted away from an outstanding career, cue Michael Jackson and Farah Fawcett.

Prokofiev was a piano player, a composer and a conductor. He was also, undoubtedly, one of the major composers to grace the twentieth century. His works include acknowledged masterpieces such as the March from "The Love of Three Oranges" (1921), the ballet "Romeo & Juliet" (1935) and the unforgettable "Peter and the Wolf" (1936).

Born in Russia in 1891, he graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory, where he was notorious for his dissonant creations for the piano. He was then commissioned for the Ballets Russes by Sergei Diaghiler, for whom he created three works, including the ballet "Prodigal Son" (1928). After the Russian Revolution, with permission, he moved to the United States and continued his work there. The invasion of his former homeland by the Nazi regime, inspired him to work on his most ambitious project, an epic opera of Tolstoy's novel "War and Peace" (1946). Among his many compilations you will find seven operas, seven symphonies, five piano concertos and eight ballets, to highlight a few.

Answer: Banksy

As the question indicates, Banksy is the pseudonym for an English graffiti artist whose real name and identity are subject to speculation. He became active in the 1990s and his works utilize dry humour and irony to make social and political commentary in very public places.

Deemed illegal by the International Court of Justice, the West Bank wall is 38 feet high and it stretches for approximately 425 miles. Banksy's view of the wall was succinctly expressed in his comment "(the wall) essentially turns Palestine into the world's largest open prison". With that in mind it becomes easier to detect the irony in the mural that he'd created. It displays two young boys using buckets and spades to build sand castles on the beach. Above them he's created the illusion of a broken wall, showing a beach paradise on the other side. You get the feeling that the point Banksy is trying to make is that the chances of reconciliation would be greatly improved if the wall was not there.

Answer: Malcolm Turnbull

Peter Wright was the principal scientific officer for MI5, the British counter-intelligence agency. He retired in 1976 but was denied a full pension on a technicality. He then decided to emigrate to Tasmania (Australia) where he wrote his memoir "Spycatcher: The Candid Autobiography of a Senior Intelligence Officer" (1987). The book drew on his experiences in the organization, his work to uncover a Soviet mole, and it explored the history of MI5, as well as making some controversial allegations.

Not surprisingly, the British government banned the sale of the book in the United Kingdom (which Scotland ignored), suppressed the press and tried to do likewise with the book's publication in Australia. Turnbull successfully represented Wright in both the trial and the subsequent appeal to the Supreme Court to have this overturned. All of this notoriety only served to push up the sales of the book into the multi millions, allowing Wright to live out the rest of his life a very wealthy man.

Malcolm Turnbull was born in 1954, graduated from Sydney University and then attended Brasenose College (Oxford) on a Rhodes Scholarship. His career then included stints as a journalist, lawyer and merchant banker. He was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2004 as a member of the Liberal Party and served as Australia's Prime Minister between 2015 and 2018.

Answer: Jan Stephenson

Stephenson was a three time major winner on the Ladies Golf Tour and is credited with bringing sex appeal to the female golf circuit. Whilst her actions brought controversy into her life it certainly helped to promote the standing and brought significant attention to ladies' golf.

She also managed to catch the attention a wealthy businessman, who was destined to become a future President of the United States, in Donald Trump. They had a brief relationship in the mid 1970s but, for Stephenson, it boiled down to a choice between the man or a commitment to golf. The fact that a young lady by the name of Ivana was also making her way onto the scene at the time made the decision an easy one for Stephenson.

Stephenson would go on to win sixteen times on the LPGA (Ladies Professional Golf Association) tour. In 2019 she would be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame after having already been included into the Australian Sports Hall of Fame (1985) and receiving the Order of Australia Medal in 2018.

Answer: Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin had more than one string to his bow. Not only a naturalist, he was also known for his work as a geologist and a biologist. In the latter field he became influential for his studies and conclusions in evolutionary biology, in particular, the process of natural selection. His voyages on the HMS Beagle (1831-36) stamped his credentials as a geologist.

"The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex" was first published in 1871. It expands on his evolutionary theory and details his own ideas about sexual selection as being distinct from natural selection. It was published in two volumes, each of 450 pages in length, in February of 1871 but, such was the demand, that within three weeks a reprint of 4,500 copies was made. Whilst this may have made Darwin quite a profit, the consensus was that the book sold purely on Darwin's name as most of the content was thought to be already known and accepted.

Answer: Caroline Chisholm

There were no women (apart from the Queen) shown on Australia's first issue of paper currency under the decimal system. Those that were issued in 1966 were the $1, $2, $10 and $20 notes. The $5 bill, bearing Chisholm's profile, was first issued in 1967. Of the other three women mentioned as possible answer options, all of them would appear on future notes, but none of them are, primarily, recognized as humanitarian aid workers. Riebey was a business woman and trader, Cowan, whilst she was a social worker, is best remembered as the first female to serve as a member of Parliament and, Dame Nellie Melba, was a renowned opera singer.

Born in Northampton, England, in 1808 Caroline Chisholm would follow her husband, a career soldier, to India in 1832. She noted a lack of discipline among the girls at the barracks and set up the Female School for the Daughters of European Soldiers. The school provided education opportunities for the girls and proved so popular that the soldiers asked if their wives could also attend.

In 1838 they moved to Sydney, Australia, when her husband became ill and was granted a two year furlough. Here Caroline identified that there were numerous women arriving into the country with no money, no jobs, and no family to support them. Many were turning to prostitution to survive. Her response was to set up a shelter for them and she then worked tirelessly to ensure placements for them. When her husband returned to India, she remained to continue on her work. During her seven year stay in Australia it was estimated that Caroline found shelter and jobs for over 11,000 people. All the while, she refused to accept sponsorship from any organization for fear that it would impede her ability to work independently.

Chisholm passed away in 1877 and was buried in her home town. Such was the esteem in which she and her work were held that the Church of England commemorated May 16 on their calendar of saints in her name. At the time of writing (2023) the process to have her canonized had been put in train.