Science's Trickiest Questions: 402 Questions That Will Stump, Amuse, and Surprise 9780805028737, 0805028730

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"Paul Kuttner makes science a remarkable and nourishing adventure— you'll want to digest this book at the 'speed of light'!" -C O LIN RONAN, AUTHOR OF SCIENCE EXPLAINED

Tr i cki est

' % 0 2 QUESTIONS THAT WILL STUMP, AMUSE, AND SURPRISE

Pawl Kwttner Author of H ISTO RY'S TRICKIEST QUESTIONS and

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT'S TRICKIEST QUESTIONS

I

J

L

T R I C K I E S T

ALSO BY PAUL KUTTNER FICTION

The Man Who Lost Everything Condemned Absolute Proof The Iron Virgin NONFICTION

History’s Trickiest Questions Arts and Entertainment’s Trickiest Questions

C5=-

402

Questions That Will Stump, Amuse, and Surprise

PAUL KUTTNER AN OWL BOOK / HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY / NEW YORK

Allen County Public Library 900 Webster Street P0 Box 2270

fort Wayne, IN 4 6 8 0 1 -2 2 7 0 Henry Holt and Company, Inc. P u b lish ers s in ce 1866

115 West 18th Street New York, New York 10011 Henry Holt® is a registered trademark of Henry Holt and Company, Inc. Copyright © 1994 by Paul Kuttner All rights reserved. Published in Canada by Fitzhenry & Whiteside Ltd., 195 Allstate Parkway, Markham, Ontario L3R 4T8. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Kuttner, Paul. Science’s trickiest questions : 402 questions that will stump,. amuse, and surprise / Paul Kuttner.— 1st Owl bk. ed. p. cm. “An Owl book." Includes index. 1. Science— Miscellanea. I. Title. Q173.K98 1994 500— dc20 94-5954 C1P ISBN 0-8050-2873-0 Henry Holt books are available for special promotions and premiums. For details contact: Director, Special Markets. First Owl Book Edition— 1994 Designed by Katy Riegel Printed in the United States of America All first editions are printed on acid-free paper. ~ 1 3 5 7 9

10

8 6 4 2

To the memory o f Margarete and Paul, my parents, and Annemarie, my sister, and also to Stephen, my son, and to Ursula Fraenkel and Ilse Jochimsen.

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FOREWORD

xiii

THE NATURAL WORLD

3

The Animal Kingdom Astronomy Plant World (Botany) THE HUMAN BODY

33

Medicine Anatomy Biology Psychology THE HOME PLANET Geography Geology Archeology Evolution vi

59

NUMBERS AND FORMULAS

71

Geometry Chemistry Physics

ANSWERS THE NATURAL WORLD

105

The Animal Kingdom Astronomy Plant World (Botany) THE HUMAN BODY

155

Medicine Anatomy Biology Psychology THE HOME PLANET

203

Geography Geology Archeology Evolution NUMBERS AND FORMULAS Geometry Chemistry Physics INDEX vii

271

227

Science is a discipline that tends to frighten all but its most dedicated students and professionals. Even when one brings the subject down to a more popular level, it can still be demanding, overpowering the reader with too many taxing details. And so I continue my Trickiest Questions series and do for science what 1have done for history and the arts-and-entertainment world. Science’s Trickiest Questions uses my teasing, tricky style that made its two predecessors, History’s Trickiest Questions and Arts and Entertainment’s Trickiest Ques­ tions, a success in bookstores, schools, and libraries. This book is filled with 402 scientific queries that will deliberately mislead its audience. Then the answers set things straight, explaining the cause and effect of each query. Also, the answers provide pertinent details that go beyond the question, supplying readers with con­ nected threads and important auxiliary information. it was my express purpose that this book not deal with trivia such as naming the chemical formula for sul­ furic acid, for instance, or identifying two organs of respiration in vertebrates that are situated on each side of their chest. Nor was this book meant to be a tiring crash course treating scientific technicalities. 1wanted Science’s Trickiest Questions simply to be informative, K ill

amusing, and fascinating, as it encourages readers to probe further into some of its subjects: astronomy, biol­ ogy, chemistry, mathematics, physics, botany, and medicine, among others. But this book is not meant to be a full meal, starting with soup and finishing with dessert. Instead it is supposed to be served as a huge gift box filled with the most delicious bitter and sweet chocolates to be selected arbitrarily. Any hungry mind eager to delve into the secrets of the world can randomly sample this book and learn about the universe and the mysteries within our bodies. Some questions will be easier than others, as Science’s Trickiest Questions covers the full gamut of the world’s scientific experience, starting with the Big Bang and ending with the incineration of Earth by the Sun. In between, the pages will explore subjects such as cli­ mates on other planets, ironies in some scientists’ lives, and tragedies involving cancer, AIDS, malnutrition, and overpopulation. It is by alerting the mind to the scientific mysteries around us that we will learn to better understand the secrets of what makes life meaningful on our planet. Also, by striving to solve and comprehend these riddles of our existence, 1hope it will encourage us to preserve life on Earth in all its manifestations.

xiv

THE NATDRAL WORLD ^

Q

1.

What tree has a caffeine content twice that of coffee? Its fruit is a star-shaped follicle with eight hard seeds, and these seeds, or nuts, contain an essential oil and a glucoside, which are used to make a heart stimulant. Combining its fruit with the extract of another plant, it is used in manufacturing what popular beverage?

^ Q 2. Although flies can live through an entire summer, how long are worker ants and their queens known to live? How heavy a load are ants capable of carrying? Five times, ten times, even twenty times their body weight? And South American and African army ants attack what kind of armies?

Q 3. Can you name a liquid that has been detected in ants and in some plants, such as stinging nettles, and is still sometimes used in the preparation of textiles?

QUESTIONS

Q 4. What do Jean Louis Pons (1761-1831) and Carolyn Shoemaker (b. 1930) have in common? Hint: One was a French astronomer, the latter an American amateur astronomer.

^ Q 5. You surely know what the following nouns mean, but do you know their meaning when applied to a particular branch of science? Here are the words: hotbed, chat, cap, punk, pitcher, nucleus, mast, and maiden.

Q 6. Is the science and art of extracting silver from various ores and its reclamation from any type of industrial pro­ cess referred to as silviculture?

^ Q 7. How many hundreds or thousands of years ago did the last giant meteorite crash into our planet? And do we know exactly how many meteorites have hit Earth in the last million years or so?

^ Q 8. What genus of the figwort family (Scrophulariaceae) that is grown all the way from Central Asia to the Canary Islands is prized as a herbaceous perennial and recognized for the treatment of heart disorders? -i

THE NATURAL WORLD

^ Q 9. Do we know how many meteors have fallen onto this planet from outer space in the last billion years?

^ Q 10. It belongs to the family Psittacidae, the genus Melopsittacus, and the species undulatus. It also hap­ pens to be one of the most popular pets in the world. What is it? If you have the correct answer, do you know what this pet used to be called?

^ Q 11. There are about 5,000 species of this kind. Most of them are reef mollusks, and are collected in every corner of the globe. What are they most commonly called?

^ Q 12. When oxygen is bombarded by ultraviolet radiation from the sun anywhere between six and thirty miles (c. 10-50 km) above the Earth, will the Earth’s strato­ spheric ozone layer eventually be depleted to such an extent that the ultraviolet radiation will be a dire threat to life on our planet?

Q 13. Lampreys are eel-like fish with a suctorial mouth. What do lampreys and sharks have in common virtually alone among all extant fish? s%

QUESTIONS

^ Q 14. When the Big Bang occurred fifteen to twenty billion years ago, one lump of matter— the kernel of the incred­ ible mass that makes up our universe— exploded, form­ ing today’s billions of galaxies. True or false?

cs5* Q 15. What two vegetables differ in the shape of their leaves and have different names, although both have been called coleworts— a name deriving from the AngloSaxon term meaning cabbage plants?

es *

Q 16.

Fish and reptiles have something in common with certain dinosaurs as far as their food is concerned. What is it?

^ Q 17. Most of us know about the black holes of astronomy: collapsed stars surrounded by a strong gravitational field from which no matter or energy, not even light, can escape. But since we cannot see these black holes, how do astronomers know that they even exist?

^ Q 18. What does an ornithologist mean when he says that the lore amounts to an inch and the zygodactyl’s circumfer­ ence amounts to five inches?

tion that Peter would betray Him three times before the cock crowed. Henceforth the rooster on church spires became a symbol equating the fickleness of Peter’s faith with the unpredictable nature of the wind.

^ A 109. They were referring to the shape of snowflakes. Yet none of the scientists could explain correctly why snowflake types like “plates” and “stellars” essentially have six sides. Snow is the solid form of water that grows while floating in the free air of the atmosphere. Icy atmospheric conditions convert the water into hexagonal lattice, meaning that the condensation of water on its surface becomes a symmetrical hexagonal crystal. It was only the explanation in 1784 by Henry Cavendish (1731-1810) for the chemical composition of water that helped to solve the snowflakes’ symmetrical puzzle: the angle extended under the two hydrogen atoms in the middle of the oxygen atom is about 120°. The hexagonal shapes of each flake differ because the flakes’ corners attract new water molecules. Also, while the flakes fall through a multitude of atmospheric regions, the meteorological conditions that the flakes encounter provide them with different hexagonal shapes, although their symmetrical forms will be pre­ served by the growing crystal whose external ends are subject to identical atmospheric manipulations.

^ A 110. The writers were Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) and Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947). Their colossal

a es

NUMBERS AND FORMULAS three-volume work Principia Mathematica was com­ pleted after three years in 1913. Although the work’s attempts to derive all mathematics from pure logic did not obtain general acceptance, Russell did find an ingenious way of overcoming some problems in the par­ ticular case of mathematical induction in the second edition (1925) of Principia Mathematica. The thesis of this work was only gradually accepted, but it has largely transformed the conception of logic.

^ A 111. It’s the magnetic compass used for navigation. The first mention of a European mariner’s compass did not come until a century later, when Alexander Neckam wrote about one in his De utensilibus (1187).

ts* A 112. It was Euclid (c. 330-260 B.c.). Nine of his books deal with plane and solid geometry, four with number theory. Euclid, a Greek mathematician who lived in Alexandria, called them Stoicheia/Elements. His philos­ ophy is based on a limited number of axioms and it is from them that many propositions are derived by the use of his logical rules. He also expounded the theory of incommensurables (having no common measure with another integral or fractional number or quantity). By the same token it is known that Euclid incorporated several discoveries of Eudoxus and Theaetetus into his own books V, X, XII and XIII, while book Vll, analyzing the foundation of arithmetic, may have been partly writ­ ten a hundred years earlier.

£S«S

^ A 113. First he lays the piece of trunk on its side (the circular, flat part) and cuts it in two in the middle; then he sets the trunk again up straight, one half on top of the other half, and cuts the two flat pieces into four equal parts, using his saw only twice for the latter assignment.

^ A 114. There have been many claims either way throughout the decades. The true verdict arrived in 1991, when Dr. Robert D. Ballard, a scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute on Cape Cod, used a super-low light underwater electronic still camera that is more powerful than floodlights to locate the Nazi battleship almost three miles under the Atlantic. Not only could one distinctly see the Bismarck's swastikas, some guns, and boots, but most important it was clear that Hitler’s favorite battleship had not been crushed. Crushing happens only when the unfilled spaces inside a sinking vessel are imploded by deep-ocean pressures. This dis­ covery supported the claims of crew members who were saved by the British that Liitjens had time to fully flood the damaged ship so it could sink, with all hatches sealed, before the British could serve it its coup de grace. Incidentally, the Kristof-Ballard mercury-vapor lamps, which have already explored the Titanic, several battleships sunk at Guadalcanal, and a schooner that went down in a squall on Lake Ontario in 1912, will soon be superseded by even more powerful laser deep-sea cameras.

370

INDEX Page numbers in boldface refer to answers. Abraham, 210-211

Anagnostakis, Sandra, 122

absolute zero, 254, 263

Anderson, Deborah, 158

adenosine triphosphate (A T P ),

Androm eda galaxy. 17, 130

48, 182

animals, 30

Ahl, David H „ 230

cataracts in, 7. 114

AIDS, 54, 159, 169, 188, 196-197

offspring-bearing males, 8, 114

Akkadian empire, 69, 223

tear-shedding and, 15, 127

Alaska, 65, 215

antibacterials, 193

Albertus Magnus, Saint, 99

antibiotics, 45,55,151,177,193,

alcohol, 203 Alexander’s Dark Band, 24, 142143

198 antibodies, 50, 188 antiquarks. 260

algebra, 96, 265

ants, 3, 105

Algol, 23, 140

A p a to s a u r u s , 2 0 8

allergic rhinitis, 163

aphasia, 172

allergies, food, 39, 167

Apollonius o f Perga, 80-81, 243

Alpha Centauri, 25

aqualung, 245

Alpha Draconis, 28, 148

arches, 34

altitude, 95, 263

arctic lupines, 152

Alvarez, Luis, 219

Arlington, Charles R., 152

Alvarez, Walter, 219

army ants, 3, 105

amalgams, 34, 95, 157, 198

arteries, 172-173, 177

Am erican chestnut tree. 133

arthropods, 136

amphetamines, 53, 190, 194

artificial motion, 69, 223

birth control pills, 178

Asian immigrants, 44, 175 aspirin, 41, 170, 174, 184

birthdays, 90

asteroids, 7, 113, 120, 212, 218

B is m a r c k , 101, 270

astrologers, 10, 117

Bismarck, O tto von, 200

astronomers, astronomy, 6, 10,

black holes, 6, 111

28, 65, 110, 111, 116, 136,

black widows, 183

140, 152, 214-215

Blair, Henry, 21, 135

astrophysicists, 118, 212, 215

b lood, 51, 54, 189

Atlantic Ocean, 88, 253

plasma, 189-190

atm ospheric pressure, 263

pressure, 174

atom, 73, 230

tests, 52, 191 vessels, 45, 177

atom bom b, 73, 78, 90, 96, 231232, 247

b lood cells:

ATP (adenosin e triphosphate),

red, 35, 54, 55, 158, 198

48, 182

white, 195-196

Aureom ycin, 199

blow flies, 139-140, 179

“Axiom o f Reducibility,” 99-100,

bobolinks, 12, 120 Bohr, Niels, 88-89, 231, 250, 251

268-269 AZT, 54, 196-197

bones, 43, 173 Bora-Bora, 204

bacteria, 164

botanical drugs, 53, 193

Bain, Alexander, 248

botany, botanists, 74, 106

baking, 95

bottlenose dolphins, 30,124,151

bald eagle, 122

bottom ology, 76, 235

Ballard, R obert D., 270

boxing m atches, 76, 236

barometer, wheel, 77

Brabantius, Thomas, 243

bats, 30, 151

Brahe, Tycho, 147-148

beauty, 93, 260

brain, 171

beetles, 117

Breuer, Josef, 169

Benzedrine, 190

brix, 81, 244

Betelgeuse, 115

Brix, A.F.W., 244

beverages, 3, 105, 114

B r o n to s a u r u s , 208

Big Bang, 6, 10, 22, 92, 111, 118,

Bronze Age, 229 brown dwarfs, 14, 125-126

134, 137 Big Dipper, 143

Brown, Robert, 232-233

bile, 156

Brownian M otion, 232, 246

billion, 75, 233

budgerigars, 109

biologists, 63,151, 211-212, 215

bulimia, 188-189

birds, 12, 13,30, 113, 152, 249

Burma, 246 ts & ts

INDEX Burnham, Charles R., 122

Celsius, 67, 221

b u s s o la , 100

Cenozoic Era, 60, 205

butcherbirds, 12, 120

Centaurus, 25, 143

butterflies, 11

centipedes, 21, 136

butterfly fish, 22, 137-138

Cepheids, 23, 140

Byron, Ada, 259

C h a lle n g e r

space disaster, 91,

257 cabbage plants, 6

chard, 53, 193

cacao, 9, 116

Charon, 120

caffeine, 3, 105

chat, 4, 106

calcium, 53, 193, 197

chem ical drugs, 53, 193

California, 215

chestnut tree, Am erican, 133

Callisto, 8

Chicxulub crater, 219

“Cambrian explosion ,” 67, 220,

China, 201

221

Chiron, 120

C a m e llia s in e n s ia , 8

chlamydia, 175

cancer, 36, 42, 54, 161-162, 173,

chlorine gas, 54, 201-202 chloroform , 242

195-196 candles, 76, 235

Choi, Gil H., 122

cannons, 255

cholechrom opoiesis, 33

Cantimpre, Thom as of, 243

cholera, 50, 187

cap, 4, 106

cholesterol, 42, 172-173, 184

capnometer, 48, 182

Christians, 90

carbon, 78, 239, 251

chrom osom es, 160, 161, 180

carbon dioxide, 14, 29, 74, 78, 132,

147,

150,

182, 232,

239, 263

chrom osphere, 133 cicadas, 11, 29, 119, 148 cinema, 230

Cardano, Girolamo, 265

circumcision, 155

Carlsbad Cavern, 62

Clarke, Arthur C., 69, 224

Carolina pigeons, 12, 120

clay, 220

carrots, 24, 142

clouds, 91

Carver, G eorge Washington, 153

coca, 105

cataracts, 7, 41, 42, 113, 168,

Coca-Cola, 105

171, 173, 199

coccidioidom ycosis, 52, 190-191

Cavendish, Henry, 97, 268

cock-of-the-plains, 12, 120

CD4 receptors, 159

cockroaches, 70, 225

cell division, 37, 164

cocoa, 9, 116

cells, 38, 163-164

coc o a nuts, 9, 116

s e e a ls o b lood cells

coconuts, 9, 116

S S 7 3

Daguerre, Louis Jacques Mande,

coffee, 3

240, 256

C o la a c u m in a ta , 105

colds, 41,45, 170, 177

Darwin, Charles, 64, 66, 213214

C o le o p t e r a , 117

colew orts, 6

dead reckoning, 228

collard, 111

Dead Sea, 88, 253

color, 92, 189

Dean, Bradley P., 144

colostrum , 48

death, 50, 187

com ets, 106, 124-125, 134, 212,

De Forest, Lee, 230

214

Dempsey, Jack, 24, 141

com m unications satellites, 224

dendrochronologists, 14, 124

com pass, magnetic, 269

dentin, 186, 198

com posites, 34

d eoxyrib onu cleic

acid

(D NA),

168, 180, 182, 184-185

com puters, 73, 81, 93 conception, 37, 44

Descartes, Rene, 99, 265

condom s, 158

diabetes, 46, 47, 52, 178-179,

cones, 81

181, 192

congou, 27, 146

digestion, 130-131, 166

constellations, 10, 116

Digital Equipment Corporation,

Cook, James, 59-60

230

Copernicus, 22, 28,

127,

138,

146, 260

digitalis, 108-109 dihydrotestosterone, 171

cop p er plates, 91

dinosaurs, 6, 61, 66, 207-208, 212, 218, 219, 223

coral reef, 59

D ioscorides, 27

Corday, Charlotte, 247 corona, 118, 133

diploids, 36, 160

Cort, Henry, 97

D ip te r a , 10

Cousteau, Jacques-Yves, 82, 245

diseases, etiology of, 37, 164

cow s, 18, 130-131

DNA

Cretaceous period, 66, 218

195

Cryptogam ia, 13, 122

dolphins, 14, 124

Cuba, 44, 176 equation

acid),

doctors, 45, 56, 79, 80, 177-178,

creationists, 63

cubic

(d eoxyrib on u cleic

168, 180, 182, 184-185

Crab nebula, 129

bottlenose, 30, 124, 151 of

degree, 96, 265

the

third

dopam ine, 39, 52, 53, 167 doves, mourning, 12, 120

C u le x , 17, 130

Drew, Charles, 21, 135

curie, 247

drumlins, 62, 209

Curie, Pierre, 84

d ry ice, 80, 232, 242-243

INDEX Dubois, Eugene, 218

Fahrenheit, 67, 221

Duggar, Benjamin Minge, 56, 199

falcons, peregrine, 12, 120

eardrums, 179

fans, 81, 244

famine, 57, 200-201 Fermat, Pierre de, 265

Earth, 59-70, 203-225 m agnetic fields of, 21, 135136

Fermat’s Last Theorem , 262 Fermi, Enrico, 247 fever, 170, 182

m otion of, 69, 131

Feynman, Richard, 257

echolocation, 151 eclipses, 129

fiber-optic cable, 62, 210

"eclipsing binaries,” 140

field mouse, 129

Edison, Thom as Alva, 98, 267

figwort, 4

eggs, 15,27, 114, 126, 145, 175

fingerprints, 157

Einstein, Albert, 82,88, 233, 237,

F in n e g a n s W a k e, 233

241, 244, 246, 250, 260, 261 General T h e o ry of Relativity of, 97, 241, 246, 260, 261, 266

fish, 6, 13, 122 fish oils, 184 fission, 86 FitzGerald, Edward, 264

T h eo ry of Invariants of, 93, 260 ejaculation, 44, 175

fixer, 15, 126 Flemming, Walther, 160

elasticity, first law of, 76

flies, 23, 118, 179

electrons, 91, 92, 238, 256, 257

Fliess, Wilhelm, 169, 176

elements, chemical, 20, 78, 86

flowers, 15, 27, 29, 37, 127

ellipse, 243

flu, 41, 170

embolus, 56, 199

foliage, 26

enamel, tooth, 186

follicles, 166

energy, 9, 21, 112, 136

food, 19-20

English standard yard, 252

food allergies, 39, 167

E n o la Gay, 247

footage, 87, 252

epiphytes, 29, 148

foot-and-mouth disease, 139

Euclid, 269

form ic acid, 106

Eudoxus, 269

fossil fuels, 262

Europa, 7

fossils, 62, 221

Eve, 63,211

foxglove, 108

evergreens, 8

Fraenkel, Eugen, 201-202

evolution, th eo ry of, 64,66, 216-

France, 233, 253

217

Franklin, Benjamin, 97, 210

eyes, 38, 46-47, 165, 173, 178179

Fraunhofer, Joseph von, 72, 228 Fraunhofer lines, 228

SS7S

INDEX free radicals, 38, 165, 186

Graham, George, 252

Freud, Sigmund, 38, 40, 42, 45,

granite, 220

50, 166, 169, 172, 176, 187

granulomas, 185

fruit, 9, 14

Gray, Asa, 213

fruit flies, 36, 160-161

Great Britain, 75, 78, 222, 233,

Fuchs, Leonhart, 150

234, 253

fuchsia, 29, 150

great-footed hawks, 12, 120

fur seals, 68

Great Red Spot, 121 Greeks, 10, 116

Galapagos Islands, 223

greenhouse effect, 94, 147, 261

galaxies, 6, 110, 136, 152

grouses, sage, 12, 120

Galileo, 259-260

grunion, 20, 133-134

Ganymede, 8

Gulf Stream, 63

Garisto, Robert, 245

gum disease, 51, 52, 188, 192193

g a r u d im im u s , 61, 208

gastroliths, 111

Gutherie, Samuel, 80

Geiger, Hans, 251 G e n e r a P la n ta r u m , 11, 119

hadrons, 77, 238

genes, 164, 180

Hagar, 210

genetic evolution, 212

Hahn, Otto, 86, 238, 250

genetics, 36

H a lia e tu s le u c o s e p h a lu s , 13

genom e, 47, 180

Halley, Edmund, 249

geocen tric theory, 15, 127

H alley’s Comet, 214

geom etry, 80-81, 84, 96,

100,

215, 265, 269

Hanson, Timothy, 115 haploids, 36, 160

Germany, 177, 233, 253

hay fever, 163

giraffes, 66, 217

headaches, 36, 163

glaucoma, 47, 179

heart attacks, 173, 184

global warming, 60, 94, 261

heart disorders, 4

glucose, 192

Heisenberg,

gnats, 118 Goethe, Johann W olfgang von, 88, 97, 253

Werner,

h eliocentric theory, 15, 22, 28, 127

Goethe Prize, 187

hepatitis C virus, 158

G oldbach’s Conjecture, 95

herbs, 25-26, 29

golden-winged w oodpecker, 12,

Hertz, Heinrich, 254

120

231-232,

256,264

hexagon, 84

Gondwanaland, 213

Hill, Carol, 209

gonorrhea, 191

Hinton, W illiam A., 21, 135

INDEX Hipparchus, 215 hippocampus, 41, 171

incomm ensurables,

histamine, 128

indigo, 142

histones, 45,167, 184-185

inferior planets, 123

Hitler, Adolf, 45, 57, 169, 201-

insect bites, 48, 183

202, 231 HIV (human im m unodeficiency virus), 33, 54, 159, 188, 196 Holmes, O liver Wendell, 53, 195

th eo ry

insects, 10 interferons, 162 In t e r p r e t a t io n

of

D re a m s ,

hom e planet, 59-70, 203-225

lo, 8, 121 Iowa City, Iowa, 68, 222

H o m o s a p ie n s , 218

iridium, 66, 213, 218

Hooke, Robert, 37,129-130,163-

iron, 47, 49, 181, 184, 262

164, 237 214

The,

166

H o m o e re ctu s , 218

Hooker, Sir Joseph Dalton, 213-

of,

269

Isaac, 211 Ishmael, 210-211 isotope, 245

hormones, 46, 178 Horner, William George, 229

jacket, 27, 146

horseflies, 11

Java Man, 218

horsepower, 234

Jefferson, Thomas, 246

hotbed, 4, 106

Jenner, Edward, 200

Hoyle, Fred, 137

jet engine, 239-240

Hubble, Edwin, 137

Jews, 45, 177, 202

human body, 33-57,155-202

Joffe, Abram, 241

and c olo r changes, 51

Joyce, James, 233

hardest substance in, 49, 186

Julian, Percy, 21, 135

human im m unodeficiency virus (HIV), 35, 54, 159, 188, 196

Jung, Carl Gustav, 169 Juno, 113

hummingbirds, 16, 128

Jupiter, 12, 113, 114, 121, 126

hurricanes, 60, 205, 206

Just, Ernest E., 21, 135

hydrochloric acid, 38, 166, 188, 189

kale, 111

hydrogen bomb, 90

karst, 63, 210

hyperbola, 243

Kennedy, Paul, 201 Kepler, Johannes, 22,28,99, 138,

icebergs, 64, 212 igneous rock, 67, 220 immunity, 187 Incan civilization, 61, 206

147 Kepler’s sphere-packing problem, 95 kerogen, 65, 216

INDEX kerosene, 222

Linne, Carl von

Khayyam, Omar, 264-265

(Carolus Lin­

naeus), 25, 119, 143, 149

kitchen, 254

lips, 179

Koch, R obert, 164, 187, 192

Little M agellanic Cloud galaxy,

kolanin, 105

15, 17, 127-128, 130

Koontz, Fred, 127

liver, 35, 156, 181, 198

Krakatau, 225

locusts, 29, 148

Kuwait, 222

logic, 100

kwashiorkor, 34, 156

loops, 34 lore, 6, 112

lactic acid, 178, 182

lovemaking, 194

Lamarck, Jean Baptiste de, 213,

Lumiere, Auguste and Louis, 230

217

Lunardi, Vincent, 97

lam preys, 5, 110

Lutjens, Gunther, 101, 270

La Paz, Bolivia, 67, 220

Lyell, Sir Charles, 213, 216

lasers, 42, 173, 241 Lavoisier, An toin e Laurent, 83, 87, 246-247, 251

McClure. Mark, 122 MacDonald, W illiam L „ 12, 13,

121-122

lead, 81 leap years, 255

macho, 31, 152-153

leaves, 26, 145

macrophages, 198

L e c tu r e s o n P h y s ics , 257

Maddox, Richard Leach, 79, 240

L e g u m in o s a e , 31, 153

maggots, 23, 179

Leibniz, G ottfried W ilhelm, 242

magma, 69, 224

leptons, 77, 118, 238

magnetic com pass, 269

leukemia, 54, 195-196

magnetic fields, 21

Liberia, 246

magnetic

Liebig. Justus von, 80

resonance

imaging

(MR1), 40, 170

life, form ation of, 64, 214

mahi-mahi, 124

L if e o n M a n , 168

maiden, 4, 107

light. 77. 80, 92, 242

malic acid, 24, 141

light am plification by stimulated

Malthus, Thom as Robert, 200-

201

emission o f radiation, 79, 241

mammals, 16, 34

lightning, 85, 249, 256

mandrake, 130

light w aves, 237

Manson crater, 222

limestone. 61, 210, 220

Marat. Jean-Paul, 246, 247

Lindbergh, Charles, 82, 244

marble, 207, 220

S T S

INDEX Marconi, Guglielmo, 254

Mintho, 144

Marie, Mileva, 83, 241

“missing link," 66

Marsden, Brian G.. 124-125

m istletoe. 145

Marsden, Ernest, 86, 251

m itochondria, 182

mass extinctions, 64, 207-208,

mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). 211 mixoscopia, 34, 157

212-213,219 mast, 4, 107 mathematics,

M o n a d o lo g y . 242

mathematicians,

monsoons, 60, 206 moon, 13, 73, 123-124

86, 100,215, 262, 265

M orning Star, 123

Mauna Kea, 204 Maxwell, James Clerk, 234, 237

Morse, Samuel Finley Breese, 248

Mayow, John, 251

M o s e s a n d M o n o t h e is m , 166

m edical procedures, 33, 39, 56

m osquitoes, 16. 118, 128

Meikle, Andrew, 97

Mossbauer, Rudolf, 265-266

Meitner, Lise, 250

m otherhood, surrogate, 63

melanoma, 36, 162

m oth er’s milk. 183

M e lo p s itta c u s , 5

m otion, 69. 74, 223

Mendel, G regor Johann. 160

artificial, 69, 223

m ercury (elem en t), 59, 91, 95.

Brownian. 232-233, 246

198, 203

Earth's, 69, 223 perpetual, 223

M ercury (p lan et), 18. 132 mesons, 77. 233, 238

relative. 79

M esozoic Era. 208

mountains, 59

m etam orphic rock, 67. 220

Mount Everest, 203-204

meteorites, meteors, 4, 5. 108,

mourning doves, 12. 120 m oving pictures, 72

109, 213,218

MR1 (magnetic resonance imag­

m eteorological forecasting, 77

ing). 40. 170

methane, 261 m etric system, 83, 246

mtDNA (m itochondrial DNA), 211

M exico, 201

mud. 220

mho, 240

multiplication, 96, 263

microbes. 28, 147, 151, 168-169

Murdock. W illiam. 97

M ic r o g r a p h ia , 37

muscles. 46

microtektites, 207

Muslims. 211

midges, 118 milliard, 234

nailbeds, 179

Minkowski. Hermann, 261

“ naked smut." 30. 151

Minkowski. Oskar. 261

naturalists. 25

379

INDEX natural selection, 64

oceans, 60, 204-205

natural w orld, 3-31, 105-153

Oechel, W alter C., 147

navigation, 71-72

oenophiles, 72

Navy, U.S., 266

Ohain, Hans J. P. von, 239-240

Nazi Germany, 45, 78, 86, 178,

Ohm, G eorg Simon, 240-241

222, 232, 247, 250

oil, 221, 222, 262

nebulae, 129

oil shale, 216

Neckam, Alexander, 269

Olsen, Ken, 230

Neptune, 119-120

O n th e N a tu r e o f T h in g s , 243

neurological activity, tracking of,

Oppenheimer, J. Robert, 90

170

optical fiber cable, 62

neurotransmitters, 39,52,53,167

orchids, 145

New com en, Thom as, 86

O r io n , 9, 115

n ew m oon, 123

ornithologists, 6, 122

Newton, Sir Isaac, 82-83, 117,

o r n it h o m im u s , 61, 208

138, 142, 242, 245, 249

o va te leaves, 26, 145

niacin, 34, 156, 159, 174

overpopulation, 200

nicotine, 35, 159

o v ir a p to r , 61, 208

nicotinic acid, 35, 159-160

oxalic acid, 193

Niepce, J. Nicephore, 256

oxygen, 5, 83, 87, 110, 251

nitric oxide, 77, 237

oxytocin, 194

nitrogen, 126

ozone, 71, 110, 227

N ob el Prize, 84, 86, 89, 91, 164,

o zo n e layer, 71, 110, 162

257, 260 Norris, Kenneth, 151

paleontologists, 62, 208

Northern Hemisphere, 68, 143,

parabola, 243

222

parasites, 46

North Pole, 28, 148

passionflower, 29, 148

novas, 132

Pasteur, Louis, 50, 187, 192

N o v a S c ie n t ia , 255

PCR (polym erase chain reaction), 47, 180-181, 225

nuclear submarines, 266

peaches, 12, 120

nucleus, 4, 107 numbers and formulas, 71-101, 227-270

peanut, 153 P e d ic u lu s , 17, 130

Nuss, Donald L „ 122

pellagra, 43, 174

nymphs, 7, 113

pendulum, 77 penguins, 68

obo vate leaves, 26, 145

penis, 179

obstetricians, 195

p en ta go n ,84

380

INDEX Penzias, Arno A., 258

Poincare Conjecture, 95

pepperm int, 144

Polaris, 143

pepsin, 166

polym erase chain reaction (PCR),

perchloroethylene, 90, 255

47, 180-181, 225

peregrine falcons, 12, 120

Pons, Jean Louis, 4, 106

perpetual motion, 69

Pons-W innecke’s com et, 106

Perseids, 125

Popov, Aleksandr, 254

Perseus, 23

population, 201

PET (positron emission tom og­

Porsild, A lf E., 152 positron emission tom ography

raphy), 40, 170

(PE T), 40, 170

pets, 5 phacoemulsification, 39, 168

power, units of, 75

phloem, 22, 138

praziquantel, 185

photoelectric effect, 88, 260

pregnancy, 176

photographs, photography, 75,

Prescott, John, 151 P r in c ip ia , 83, 245, 249

234, 238, 246, 256, 259 photons, 237

P r i n c ip i a M a th e m a tic a , 269

photosphere, 20, 133, 139

prism, 228

photosynthesis, 28,136,138,150

progesterone, 178

physics, physicists, 88, 89, 94

prolactin, 48, 184

pitcher, 4, 107

prostate, 41, 171-172, 183

P ith e c a n th r o p u s , 218

protein, 34, 35, 156, 162

pixels, 92, 259

P s itta c id a e , 5

Planck, Max, 254

psychoanalysis, 40

planetoids, 7, 113

Ptolem y

inferior vs. superior, 123

Ptolmaus),

Ptyalin, 54, 196

plants, 17, 18, 23, 26, 27, 29, 132, 136, 138, 143

(Claudius

215

planets, 12,13, 138

puerperal infection, 194 P u le x , 17, 129

plant seeds, 30, 152

pumice, 220

plaque, 173

punk, 4, 107

plates (ge o lo g ic), 216

pythons, 126

“ plates” (snow flakes), 99, 268 Plato, 250

quadrangle, 247

Pliny the Elder, 224

quantum electrodynam ics, 257

plumbing, 81

quantum mechanics, 256

Plumier, Charles, 150

quantum theory, 254

Pluto (g o d ), 26, 144

quarks, 75, 118, 260

Pluto (p lan et), 11, 119

quattuordecillion, 88, 253

SSSA

INDEX radioactivity, theory, 84

satellites, 87, 224

radium, 245

Savery, Thomas, 86

Raffles, Sir Thomas Stamford, 127

schistosom iasis, 185

R a f f le s ia a r n o ld i, 127

Schliemann, Heinrich, 200

rainbows, 142-143

Schwinger, Julian, 257

Rangoon creeper, 131

scientists, black, 135, 153

Ray, John, 143

S c o m b r o id e a , 123

red b lood ceils, 35, 54, 55, 158,

Scott-Archer, Frederick, 79, 240 sea horses, 114

198

sea level, 95, 263

reef mollusks, 5 Relativity, General T h e o ry of, 97,

seashells, 109 seasons, 26, 144-145

241, 246, 260, 261, 266 reptiles, 6

sedim entary rock, 67, 219, 220

retina, 43, 174, 178-179

S e is m o s a u r u s , 208

rhinitis, allergic, 163

selenologist, 9, 115

rhizobium, 27, 146

semen, 45, 176

rice, 30, 152, 193

Sem melweis, Ignaz Philipp, 53, 194

rice buntings, 12, 120 Riemann Hypothesis, 95

sexual attraction, 194

Rilleux, N orbert, 21, 135

sexual intercourse, 35, 157, 158-

R o m e o a n d J u lie t, 17

159

Rosebury, Theodor, 40, 168-169

sexually transm itted

diseases,

44, 52, 158-159

rumination, 18, 130-131 Rumphius, 131

Shakespeare, William, 17, 130

Russell, Bertrand, 268-269

shale, 220

Rutan, Dick, 82

sharks, 5, 110, 151

Rutherford, Ernest, 82, 86, 230,

Sharpton, Virgil L „ 207

247-248,251

Shen Kua, 100 Shoemaker, Carolyn, 4, 106

sage grouses, 12, 120

Shrapnell, Henry, 97

salicylic acid, 174

shrikes, 12, 120

saliva, 196

Siberia, 59, 67, 108, 203

S a l ix b a b y lo n ia , 28

SIDA, 40, 169

Salonen, Jukka T „ 184

silver halide, 77, 238

San Andreas Fault, 215

silver iodide, 91

"sand in our eyes,” 38, 165

silver metallurgy, 107

Sarah, 210

silver molecules, 92, 259

sarsen, 76, 236

silviculture, 4, 107

sssss

INDEX simian creases. 42. 172

s p ir u lin a . 133

Simpson. Sir James, 80

splanchnology. 51, 190

single photon emission com put­

spleen. 198

erized tom ography (SPECT).

squares. 263

40, 170

SQUID (superconducting quan­

Sisson. Jonathan. 252 skiing. 36. 163

tum interference d evice). 40. 170

skin cancer. 36. 161-162

starch. 146

skin pores. 38

stars. 9. 18, 20. 23. 28. I l l , 131,

Slotta, Karl. 178

228

smallpox, 200

steam engine. 86. 250

sm ilodon, 24, 141-142

steeple. 75. 235

snakes. 15, 126

Steinmetz. Karl Rudolf. 252

snowflakes. 268

"stellars." 99. 268

S n o w W h ite a n d th e S e v e n D w arfs,

stimulants. 51-52.105, 190

81.243

stinging nettles. 3. 164

Soddy. Frederick. 82. 84. 245

stoichiom etry. 98. 266

solar constant. 112

Stonehenge. 236-237

solar system. 12. 121

Strassman, Fritz, 86

Soubeiran. E., 80

stratospheric o zo n e layer. 5

souchong. 27. 146

strawberries. 14. 125

Southern Cross. 25. 143

Sudbury, Ontario. 68. 222

Southern Hemisphere. 68. 143-

sulfuric acid. 209

144, 222 space. 94 species. 62. 209 SPECT (single photon com puter­ ized tom ography). 40, 170 Speer. Albert. 231 Spencer. Herbert. 216-217

sun. 7. 9. 11. 12, 21. 110, 112, 118, 121. 133, 134-135 sunlight. 132, 136, 170 sunspots. 22. 139 superconducting quantum inter­ ference d evice (SQUID). 40. 170

sperm, 37. 44. 48. 175, 176, 183

superior planets. 123

sphygm om anometer, 43. 174

supernova. 15-16. 128

spider bites, 48, 183

surrogate m otherhood. 63

spinach, 53. 193

"survival of the fittest." 66. 216-

spinal cord, 165

217

spine, 49, 186

sweat. 46, 179

spire, 75, 235

Swift-Tuttle. 14. 124-125

S p ir i t o f St. L o u is , 82

Swisher. Carl C„ 219

INDEX synchronous satellites, 224

tooth enamel, 186

S y s te m a N a tu ra e , 11, 119

topology, 76, 235 transatlantic cable, 62, 210

Tartaglia, N iccolo, 255, 265

transmitter, 254

taste buds, 174

trees, 19,85, 107, 249

tea, 114, 146

rings of, 10, 112, 117, 124

teeth, 51, 55, 186, 188, 197-198

triangle, 247

Teflon, 254

tropical cyclones, 60, 205

tektites, 219

tuberculosis, 55, 192, 197

telegraph, 248

tuna, 122-123

television satellites, 87, 251

tunnel incision, 39, 168

tem perature, 51, 85, 95,

189,

203, 221, 248, 262

Turing, Alan, 81, 243 T w e n ty T h o u s a n d L e a g u e s U n d e r th e S e a , 266

terminator, 9, 115 term ites, 70, 225

Tych o, 9, 115

testicles, 26, 145, 183

typhoons, 60, 205

testosterone, 171

T y ra n n o s a u ru s , 208

textiles, preparation of, 3, 106 Th ea cea e, 8

ultraviolet radiation, 5, 110

Theaetetus, 269

u n d u la tu s , 5

“T h e o ry of T ypes,” 99-100, 268-

United States, m etric system in, 83, 246

269 therm om eters, 59

universal gravitation, th eo ry of, 76

Thoreau, H enry David, 144 thorium, 82, 245

upsilon mesons, 233, 260

Three Mile island, 63, 211

uranium and thorium fission, 86

T h ree Mile Limit law, 63, 211

Ursa Minor, 148

throm bosis, 56, 199

uterus, 176, 178

thymus gland, 36, 161 thyroid gland, 36, 161

vaccination, 200

Tibet, 67, 220

vagina, 44,48, 175, 176, 183

tillites, 213

v alley fever, 191

time, 94

v ec to r mesons, 74

Timothy, 8, 114

Vega, 148

T ita n ic , 64

vegetables, 6, 14

Titicaca, Lake, 206

veins, 177

Tombaugh, Clyde, 120

Venus, 12, 121, 123

Tom onaga, Shin’ ichero, 257

Verne, Jules, 98, 266

tongue, 174

Vesuvius, 224

SSS4

INDEX Vinci, Leonardo da, 85, 96-97,

W hittle, Sir Frank, 239-240 whorls, 34

117, 249, 265 Virchow, Rudolf, 199-200

wicks, candle, 76, 235-236

viruses, 23, 35, 50, 162, 186

Wiles, Andrew, 262

vitamins, 33, 34, 41, 155, 157,

Williams, Daniel Hale, 21, 135 w illo w bark, 43, 174

170-171, 173 volcanoes, 59, 204, 220, 223, 224

Wilson, R obert W „ 258

V oyager, 82, 244

wind, 99, 267-268 wine, 72, 98, 229, 267

Waldeyer-Hartz,

W ilhelm

von,

W oods, Granville T., 21, 135 w orker ants, 3, 105

160 Wallace, Alfred Russel, 64, 66,

W orld War I, 23, 139, 176 W orld War 11, 84

213, 214, 217 Wan Hu, 96-97, 265

xylem, 22, 138

watches, 77 waterm elon, 116 Watt, James, 97

Yeager, Jean a, 82

wax, candle, 76, 235-236

years, leap, 255

weather, 7

ye llo w fever, 44, 176

w eathervanes, 99, 267

yellow-shafted flickers, 12, 120

w eeping w illows, 148

Yucatan Peninsula, 66, 207, 218219

weevils, 117 Weiss, Harvey, 223 Weizsacker, Carl Friedrich von,

zero, 89

238

absolute, 254, 263

w heel barometer, 77

Zimov, S. A., 147

w h ite b lood cells, 195-196

zodiac, 10

W hitehead, Alfred North, 268-

zoetrope, 229-230

269

zygodactyl, 6, 112

ssss

I

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