Great British Discoveries Trivia Quiz

Answer: Double helix

DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid is a molecule which contains genetic information and is present in all living organisms. Francis Crick and James Watson discovered the double helix structure of the DNA molecule on February 28 1953 after studying experimental data collected by Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins.

In 1962 Crick, Watson and Wilkins were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in recognition of their work in discovering the structure of DNA.

Answer: On the Origin of Species

Charles Darwin was a British naturalist who lived between 1802 and 1882. He is known for his theory of evolution by means of natural selection which he first published in the work 'On the Origin of Species' in 1859. Much of the evidence for his theory came from his studies on the Galapagos Islands which he visited while working on the British survey ship HMS Beagle.

Answer: Discovery of penicillin

Sir Alexander Fleming made his discovery in 1928. His discovery of the antibiotic properties of the mold Penicillium rubens, led to the development of a family of antibiotics known as penicillins. This proved to be a great leap forward in the treatment of various serious diseases resulting in a lot of diseases becoming far less serious illnesses than they had once been. Overuse in recent years has unfortunately reduced the effectiveness of the drug.

Answer: Kelvin

Lord Kelvin was born William Thomson in Belfast in 1824. In 1848 he determined absolute zero, the coldest temperature physically possible, as being −273.15 degrees Celsius. He was made a Lord in 1892 in honour of his scientific discoveries in the field of thermodynamics, becoming Baron Kelvin, of Largs in the County of Ayr, and thus is commonly referred to as Lord Kelvin.

The unit of temperature the 'Kelvin' was named after him with zero degrees Kelvin being absolute zero.

Answer: The World Wide Web

Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web while working at the European Organization for Nuclear Research or CERN in 1989. In 2004 he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in recognition of his work on the World Wide Web; he was also honoured in the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Answer: Sir Isaac Newton

Sir Isaac Newton laid out these laws in his 'Philosophić Naturalis Principia Mathematica' (which translates as 'Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy') and is often referred to simply as the 'Principia'. It was published in Latin, in three volumes in 1687.

The 'Principia' is regarded as one of the most important scientific texts as it includes the 'law of universal gravitation' and the 'laws of motion' both of which had a major impact on the way scientists understood the physical universe.

Answer: Thomas Newcomen

Thomas Newcomen lived between 1664 and 1729. In 1712 he invented his 'atmospheric engine' which was the first device to use steam power to operate a mechanism. Newcomen's engines were mainly used for pumping water out of mines. Watt realised that Newcomen's engine could be improved after realising it was very inefficient while fixing one. Watt's improved steam engine was crucial to the industrial revolution and as such he is often, wrongly, regarded as its original inventor.

Answer: The structure of atoms

Ernest Rutherford conducted his 'gold foil experiment' (also called the 'Geiger-Marsden experiment') in 1909, and the results of this experiment led Rutherford to suggest a new model for the structure of atoms. Previously the structure of atoms had been believed to follow the 'plum pudding model' in which negatively charged electrons (the plums) were held in a positively charged soup (the pudding); however, Rutherford found that the results of his experiment did not correspond to the 'plum pudding model'.

After studying the results of his experiment Rutherford proposed the 'planetary' or 'Rutherford' model of the atom where the negatively charged electrons orbit a positively charged nucleus.

Answer: Smallpox

Edward Jenner got the idea for his vaccine after realising that milkmaids who had caught the much less serious disease of cowpox were immune to smallpox. In order to test his theory of immunity Jenner injected an eight-year-old boy, James Phipps, with pus from cowpox blisters. Later Jenner injected Phipps with smallpox which produced no sign of infection. Jenner's work paved the way for further vaccines to be developed and led to smallpox being declared an eradicated disease in 1979.

Answer: Longitude

John Harrison invented his marine chronometer in the 18th century. Prior to its invention sailors had used the lunar distance method to calculate longitude but this was very inaccurate, especially from the moving deck of a ship where it was even harder to get accurate bearings of the angles of celestial objects which was used to determine the time.

The standard pendulum clocks of the time could not be used at sea because the motion of the ship greatly affected the mechanism. Harrison solved this problem by inventing a clock which relied on an oscillating mechanism which was unaffected by the movement of the ship and enabled sailors to calculate their longitude much more accurately.