Not What I Expected Trivia Quiz

Answer: Archimedes' principle

A Greek scientist hopping out of his bath? Greeks did obviously take baths, but only one of them has become famous because of this scene. Archimedes was so excited about having solved a problem he jumped out of the bath and into the street, where he exulted "Eureka" ("I've found it") while running around stark naked. Bystanders probably thought Archimedes did not find something, but did lose something - his marbles, so to say.

Archimedes was born in Syracuse around 287 BC. In 250 BC, King Hiero of Syracuse asked Archimedes to investigate a crown to be presented in a temple. Hiero had asked for a crown of solid gold, but he doubted whether the craftsman had followed his orders. So Archimedes had to determine if the crown was made of solid gold or of inferior material.

When Archimedes entered his bathtub, he noticed that an amount of water was displaced, and that this amount was equal to the mass of the object dipped into the water. He used this principle to show that the crown indeed was less heavy than the mass of the solid gold that had to be used for this crown.

Archimedes died in 212 BC - killed by a Roman soldier when interrupted in his studies of circles.

Answer: Isaac Newton

Isaac Newton (1642-1726 according to Old Style time scales) not only carried out research regarding falling apples, but spent his life on very different scientific studies. He studied optics, mathematics and physics, and published standard works in all three of these subjects.

The apple incident was recorded not only by Newton himself, but also by some of his fellow scientists. The falling apple inspired Newton first to question why the apple always falls straight to the ground, and not at an angle. Newton's first conclusion was that there was some force hidden in the core of each object, that mutually attracted surrounding objects proportionate to the respective mass. So the apple falls to the earth because the force executed by the earth is far greater than that of the apple.

Newton then added the thought that the distance between objects also plays an important role (an idea already launched by others). Gravity is indeed inversely proportionate to the square of the distance between two objects, and Newton's experiments demonstrated that the square of the distance is a more precise factor than the simple distance.

Now why does the apple fall to the earth and the moon does not fall (yet)? This is because the apple is stationary to the earth, while the moon is in motion. The force of gravity is countered by the force of the motion, and as Newton stated "if the sum of the net forces exerted upon an object is zero, the object will maintain its velocity" (where the velocity implies both speed and direction).

Crick (1916-2004) studied the structure of DNA. Hawking (born 1942) is a cosmologist. Lister (1827-1912) stressed the importance of antiseptic measures in operation rooms.

Answer: Rosetta stone

Bouchard (1772-1832) and his company were working in the northern part of Egypt, when they found a stone slab with text on it. The lower part of the text is written in Ancient Greek, a language with which most of the archaeologists at that time were quite familiar. The middle part of the text is written in demotic script, a rare type of writing found in Egypt and on which the Swedish diplomat Johan David Akerblad concentrated his efforts around 1800. The upper part of the stone contains a text in hieroglyphics, which up till this discovery had not been deciphered.

The scientists who examined the Rosetta stone adopted the theory that it contained the same text thrice. Checking this theory with the proper names (of pharaohs) mentioned in the Greek text, proved that the theory was correct. And this was the key to deciphering the hieroglyphs.

The Dead Sea Scrolls were found in a cave in Qumran, present day West Bank Palestine.

The Palace of King Minos (or remnants of it) were discovered on Crete, while the walls of Troy were unearthed in present-day Turkey.

Answer: Quinine

Quinine was originally obtained from the bark of the cinchona or remijia plants, two types of flowering plants native to South America. It has a bitter taste and was recommended as one of the prime medications to cure malaria. In 2006 the World Health Organisation advised to use arteminisins (substances naturally obtained from the artemisia plant known as wormwood, or the synthetic derivatives) instead, because quinine can have quite serious side-effects.

The exact method how quinine treats malaria is not yet fully known. Scientists are trying to prove that quinine is toxic to the parasite that causes malaria.

Perkin (1838-1907) was a chemistry student. When he accidentally discovered mauvein or Perkin's mauve, he decided to quit his efforts for synthesizing quinine altogether and turned full-time to the production of chemical dyes (Perkin's mauve, Britannia violet, Perkin's green...).

Vitamins inspired me for the red herrings. Niacin or nicotinic acid is vitamin B3, cyanocobalamin is a synthetic form of vitamin B12, and riboflavin is vitamin B2.

Answer: Penicillin

Alexander Fleming (1881-1955) was studying the antibacterial action of different substances. Returning to his lab one morning he discovered a Petri dish with a culture of staphylococci, whose growth was stopped by a blue-green mould that had come in from outside. (Thus one could say Fleming "had forgotten to do the dishes"). Careful examination showed that indeed the mould, later identified as Penicillium chrysogenum, hampers the spontaneous regeneration of the cell wall of many bacteria, thus increasing the pressure in the bacterial cell, which ultimately leads to the death of the bacterial cell.

Retinol is better known as Vitamin A and Calciferol is Vitamin D. Biotin is Vitamin B7.

Answer: Teflon

Plunkett (1910-1994) worked for the DuPont chemical company in the thirties. The substance he accidentally discovered is a molecule that contains only carbon and fluorine atoms - no other elements are involved. The scientific name is polytetrafluoroethylene, but the substance was named conveniently Teflon - some letters from the scientific name, and the suffix -on to indicate that it was synthetically produced.

Teflon has some qualities that inspired numerous applications. The slippery nature of Teflon (very low friction) makes it good as a lubricant, and the high resistance to corrosion inspired Teflon coatings. But the fact that Teflon is hydrophobic, resistant to high temperature and non-toxic, accounts for the best known household application: Teflon coating on the inside of pans, so one can cook food without remnants of the food sticking to the frying pan.

Nylon, spandex and Kevlar are some synthetic textile fibres with special qualities. Nylon is soft and very lightweight, spandex is highly elastic and Kevlar is very resistant to impact. All these fibres were invented in the labs of DuPont: nylon in 1935, spandex in 1962 and Kevlar in 1965.

Answer: Plastic gun sights

Super glue is a very strong adhesive in the presence of moisture. Its uses are not limited to the DIY sphere, as super glue is also used for emergency sutures on injured people (in battlefields or in large calamities).

Harry Wesley Coover (1917-2011) started his career at Goodrich, but became more famous as a chemist with Eastman Kodak, where his approach of scientific questions resulted in over 300 different patents.

Did you notice the year of the discovery was during World War II? This should have led you to the correct answer: the war effort demanded several very specific tools and materials only used for military applications, whereas the red herrings are all linked to peaceful events. The plastic boxes were first brought to market by Earl Tupper's company. With the plastic building blocks, I refer to Ole Kirk Christiansen's toy company LEGO. Plastic Christmas trees are commercialized by dozens of companies, while natural trees are sold frequently too.

Answer: Percy Spencer

While our scientist may have wondered about what happened, I'm convinced that whoever did his laundry was not amused. Try to remove chocolate stains from a suit and you will know what I mean.

It was Percy Spencer (1894-1970) who made this discovery. He blamed the microwaves generated by the experimental radar equipment, and made quite an effort to build an oven using these microwaves in a contained, and thus safe, way. The result was the microwave oven as we now know it, although the first microwave ovens were quite gigantic compared to those used in the twenty-first century.

The first microwave ovens appeared in 1947, but it took until 1965 before the first compact microwave oven fit for domestic use was built.

Microwave ovens are used to heat and cook foods much faster than conventional methods. Never cook an egg in a microwave though: the yolk and albumin expand more than the shell, and the egg thus will explode - if you're lucky, it won't blow up in your face but miss you by an inch.

Wallace Carothers (1896-1937) headed the team that developed nylon. Joseph Swan (1828-1914) was an English scientist who contributed to the development of the lightbulb and of photographic paper. Charles Frederick Cross (1855-1935) started his career as a schoolmaster, then turned to applied chemistry in manufacturing soap and finally contributing to the invention of viscose (a synthetic fibre).

Answer: Aspartame

Schlatter was born in 1942 and studied chemistry. In 1965 he spilled a liquid and - contrary to all security rules for chemists - he tasted a drop of this unknown substance. It tasted very sweet, and so Schlatter decided to develop this product as an artificial sweetener. So Schlatter invented aspartame, a substitute for sugar in certain foods.

Aspartame is likely to break down into simpler amines when exposed to high temperature or in substances with an elevated pH degree (bases). So the main use is in soft drinks, which usually have a more acidic nature.

There is an ongoing discussion about the effects of aspartame on human health. Many studies have been made to assess whether aspartame could contribute to weight loss or could counter diabetes, but these studies are inconclusive. The only certainty is that aspartame poses a risk for people afflicted by the genetic disease phenylketonuria.

Erythrosine (red colouring), lecithin (an emulsifier similar to egg yolk) and monosodium glutamate (a savoury aroma) are other food additives. All these have been approved by European standards and thus carry an E number: erythrosine is E127, monosodium glutamate is E621, aspartame is E951 and lecithin is E322. The American Food and Drug Administration has also allowed the use of these food additives.

Answer: Viagra

The well-known blue pills in the shape of a diamond were brought to the market under the brand name Viagra in 1998. Its use is first of all indicated to counter erection problems for males. It may also help to treat pulmonary hypertension, and according to tests on hamsters, it might diminish the effects of jet lag (in as much hamsters can experience jet lag). But on the other hand, cardiovascular patients may experience a too low blood pressure when using Viagra.

Viagra was developed by a relatively large team of scientists. The patent lists Andrew Bell, David Brown and Nicholas Terrett, while other sources also mention Peter Dunn and Albert Wood.

Imodium (active ingredient loperamide) is an over-the-counter drug made by Janssen Pharmaceutics which helps to stop diarrhoea. Glucophage (active substance metformin) was developed by Bristol-Myers Squibb and is a prescription drug for diabetes mellitus. Alka-Seltzer is an effervescent antacid developed by Miles Laboratories and owned by Bayer since 1978.