Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Perhaps the most famous example of a light bulb moment was when a famous scientist was sitting in his garden and noticed an apple falling from a tree. "Why does an apple fall down instead of falling up?" he thought. This led to the universal law of gravity. Who was the scientist?
2. While doing research on radar, Percy Spencer noticed that the electromagnetic waves emitted melted the candy bar in his pocket. Instead of getting irritated at the mess of a melted candy bar inside his pocket, Percy patented what household device in 1945?
3. In the 1960s , Penzias and Wilson were working on sensitive radio telescopes that were to be used for communicating with satellites. When they pointed their telescope into space they picked up "background noise" which is now known to be evidence for what?
4. In 1903, Edouard Benedictus dropped a glass flask that failed to break into many pieces. The reason why this occurred was a coating of cellulose nitrate in the flask. This led to the invention of what piece of safety equipment that has saved thousands of lives since?
5. Dairymaids who handled the udders of infected cows contracted a disease called cowpox. Edward Jenner (an English physician) in 1796 realised that when people had contracted this disease, they were spared contracting a much more fatal disease. This led to vaccinations against which fatal disease in humans?
6. August Kekulé had been working on trying to discover the structure of a certain chemical. Whilst daydreaming, he saw atoms dancing in front of his eyes. These then morphed into snakes. When one grabbed its own tail, he realised that the structure of the chemical that had been eluding him was a ring. What chemical's atomic structure did Kekulé discover?
7. Sildenafil was being investigated as a possible medication to treat hypertension and angina. A number of participants in the medical trials reported a side effect to the medication that led to Pfizer marketing which drug?
8. Another medical example of serendipity: This involved a contaminated petri dish and the mould "Penicillium" that was killing the bacteria that was being studied. This poor hygiene during scientific studies led to the development of Penicillin. Who was the discoverer?
9. Whilst working with gases to be used as refrigerants, Dr Roy Plunkett found a substance that was extremely slippery. What did he discover?
10. Whilst, each of these "light bulb" moments were fortuitous, this was only the start of the work. Who said: "Genius is one per cent inspiration and ninety nine per cent perspiration"?
Source: Author
pdk42
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CellarDoor before going online.
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