Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. What German-born rocket scientist said in 1972, "I'm convinced that before the year 2000 is over, the first child will have been born on the moon."
2. In early 1955 "Variety" magazine wrote "It will be gone by June". They were predicting the failure of what phenomenon?
3. The telephone is such a ubiquitous part of modern life that it's hard to believe that not everyone thought it useful when it was new. Which of these experts did NOT predict that Mr. Bell's invention would be a failure?
4. "The world potential market...is 5000 at most." With those words, IBM opted not to buy the rights to what machine that is now the backbone of virtually every office in the world?
5. William Thomson, Lord Kelvin, was a leading scientist of the Victorian era. He worked in electronics, thermodynamics and other fields. In 1896, upon hearing of Rontgen's discovery of X-rays, what was Lord Kelvin's reaction?
6. During the "Atomic Age" of the 1950s, there were many predictions of marvelous peaceful uses of atomic energy. In 1955 businessman Alex Lewyt predicted that what home appliance would soon be nuclear powered?
7. Upon seeing the first flight of the plane he helped design, who said, "There will never be a bigger plane built."?
8. In March of 1949 "Popular Mechanics" foretold the coming of smaller computers with a statement that still raises eyebrows. What was that prediction?
9. In 1954 Wilhelm C. Heuper said, "If excessive smoking actually plays a role in the production of lung cancer, it seems to be a minor one." For whom did Heuper work?
10. "There is not the slightest indication that nuclear energy will ever be obtainable. It would mean that the atom would have to be shattered at will." What scientist, whose theories contributed to the development of atomic energy, made this prediction in 1932?
Source: Author
wilbill
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