Scientists with Fruit Heads Trivia Quiz

Answer: Eggplant, Melon, Cranberry (squared)

The famous equation for mass-energy equivalence is E=MC^2. (Of course, the symbol "^2" means "to the second power" or "squared"). In the clue, the first letter of each fruit spells out EMC which are the letters of the equation. Einstein was famous for having made this discovery, and many believe that the discovery led to the advent of the atomic bomb.

Answer: Niels Bohrange

Niels Bohr was a contemporary of other scientists such as Albert Einstein, Werner Heisenberg, and J. Robert Oppenheimer, and was indeed included in the famous atom bomb project. The element named after him is "bohrium", which is synthetic and radioactive with an atomic number of 107.

The "Bohr model" is an atomic model which improved on the Rutherford model, but was later superseded by the Sommerfield model.

Answer: Watermelon cut into perfect right triangles

Pythagoras of Samos was a philosopher and mathematician. He was most famous for his proofs on the Pythagorean theorem, which is commonly written as a^2+b^2=c^2. Mathematics lessons with the Pythagorean theorem are often also taught in tandem with the concept of a hypotenuse, which is the longest side on a right-angled triangle (which is always opposite the right angle).

This would be represented by the "c" in the equation above.

Answer: microwave oven

Marie Curie was constantly subjected to ionizing radiation, which she was unaware was dangerous. While she was working with radioactive isotopes, she had no idea they were destroying her health. Nonetheless, her life and achievements were very fruitful.

Microwave ovens work on the principle of non-ionizing radiation, which cannot damage DNA, but are enough to have thermal properties. That's why this type of radiation is used in microwave ovens.

Answer: decay

Enrico Fermi was another scientist involved with the Manhattan Project. He is possibly most famous for his studies in nuclear physics and the function that is named after him deals with radioactive decay. He also has an element named after him: Fermium (atomic number 100).

Answer: Nicolaus Coperni-quince

Johannes Kepler was born in the lands of the Holy Roman Empire in the sixteenth century. He worked under the famed scientist Tycho Brahe and published many works concerning astronomical patterns. At this time, astronomy and astrology were still linked, but mathematics and geometry increasing separated the two.

He was a huge proponent of the heliocentric universe theory proposed by Nicolaus Copernicus, believing that geometrically, the sun had to be the center of the universe.

Answer: Tangerine

Henry Ford's two Model cars were the Model T and the Model A. Ford became quite successful after developing the "Fordism" model of production with assembly line production and high wages. The high wages kept employees from turning over and lowered training costs significantly.

He began producing the Model T in 1908, which became wildly popular. However, Ford became stubborn, and his competitors began to cut in on his profits because he refused to consider mechanical additions that other companies had introduced to their vehicles, as well as refusing to allow payment plans, forcing customers to buy their vehicles at full price. Finally, he retired the Model T and began producing the Model A in 1927.

Answer: periodic table

Though some others had experimented with creating periodic tables of elements, the table seen in chemistry classes today was designed by Dmitri Mendeleev. He never won a Nobel prize due to the scheming of an adversary who twice convinced the Academy to drop votes for him. He, too, had an element named after him: Mendelevium.

Answer: The curve of a banana

Pierre de Fermat was most prominently a lawyer, though he considered himself an amateur mathematician and worked vigorously to prove himself in that field. His most enduring contribution to the field was his brain-scratcher, known as Fermat's Last Theorem, a mathematical theorem that no mathematician had developed a proof for for over 350 years.

In 1995, Andrew Wiles (who had been developing the proof for over seven years) was able to convincingly solve the problem by relating it to elliptical curves, a conjecture that had existed since the 1950s.

Answer: peas

Gregor Mendel was an Augustinian friar of Silesian descent who was also interested in botany. His experiments with different varieties of peas, and of breeding them, led to the modern science of genetics. However, his work was not largely seen as significant until nearly three decades later.