1. Why should scientific theories be falsifiable?
2. One should trust scientific theories
a) Based on the logic of the arguments provided to support them
b) Only to the extent that they are supported by the experimental data
c) According to whether they are simple or not
d) Only if they agree with existing ideas
e) Only to the extent that they don’t go against common sense
3. Occam’s razor is useful because
a) It provides a really close shave
b) It explains how to tell if a hypothesis is related or not to what we are looking at
c) It always selects the simplest description of Nature
d) It tells which theories are absolutely true
4. Uri Geller’s claimed ability to bend spoons by gently rubbing them was debunked because
a) He is not a scientist
b) The average guy in the street could not do it
c) It would require a revision of the accepted laws of physics
d) Because it could not be done using thick metal rods
e) Because Geller himself could not do it in the environment of a controlled experiment
5. According to Aristotle a
balloon hovering in mid air does so because
a) Gravity is balanced by the
balloon’s buoyancy
b) It is partly fiery and
partly earthy in character so that the opposing natural motions cancel
c) It natural motion downward
is balanced by tits buoyancy
d) Its natural motion upward
is balanced by gravity
e) Of unknown reasons: he
would simply have no explanation.
6. A spacecraft on the way to
the Moon turns off its rockets half-way, in the vacuum of space. According to
Aristotle,
a) It will coast towards the Moon
b) It will start orbiting the
Moon
c) It will eventually fall
back towards Earth, moving at infinite speed as long as it is outside the
atmosphere.
d) It will start orbiting the
Earth
7. As the Eagle (the landing
craft form the Apollo 11) approached the Moon it turned around so that its
rockets pointed toward the lunar surface. According to Aristotle what would
have happened as this maneuver was completed?
a) The rockets would slow down the Eagle’s approach to
the Moon making a soft landing possible
b) The Eagle would start speeding towards Earth and away
form the Moon
c) The Eagle would have started orbiting the Moon since
that is its natural motion
d) The Eagle would have started moving towards the Sun
because that is its natural motion
e) The Eagle would have hovered above the Moon indefinitely
because the pull from the Moon’s gravity is balanced by the natural motion
towards Earth.
8. When an ox stops pulling a cart the cart stops. According
to Aristotle this is because
a) Horizontal motion of the cart is not “natural” and so it
can occur only if something (in this case the ox) generates it.
b) Frictional forces make it stop
c) The cart is mainly made of fire and so its natural motion
is upward (being kept on the ground only be its contents)
d) The gravitational force from the
Earth anchors it to the ground.
e) The natural motion of the ox is
forward while that of the cart is backward, so they both stay put.
9. One belief of Pythagoras that
has survived to this day is that
a) Planets move in circles around
the Sun
b) There is an additional planet, the
“counter Earth”, which we know as Venus.
c) Mathematics described Nature
d) The number 10 is special among
all numbers
e) Striking an anvil makes a sound
similar to the music of the spheres.
10. According to Pythagoras as heavenly bodies
move they
a) Indicate that they are mainly made out of
fire
a) Emit a sort of heavenly music
b) Indicate that they are mainly made out of
earth
c) Circle the sun
d) Eventually come together into a single body
since 1 is the most important number