Faces of Science

Question: For whom is the Fahrenheit system of temperature measurement named?

Answer: Daniel Fahrenheit, a German physicist, proposed the Fahrenheit scale in 1724. By that scale, water freezes at 32º.

Question: For whom is the centigrade system of temperature measurement named?

Answer: Anders Celsius, a Swedish scientist, conceived of the centigrade (also called Celsius) scale of measurement in 1742.

Question: Who said, "God does not play dice with the universe"?

Answer: Albert Einstein, the eminent physicist, said, "God does not play dice with the universe." He explained that everything in the universe existed for a reason, and not by mere accident.

Question: Who is considered the "father" of the scientific method?

Answer: Galileo is considered the father of the experimental, or scientific, method because he devised critical experiments that forced conviction even though the results contradicted earlier authorities.

Question: Which scientist is well known for his work with falling bodies?

Answer: Galileo discovered the natural laws that govern falling bodies and the swinging of the pendulum.

Question: Which scientist was born the year Galileo died?

Answer: In the year Galileo died, 1642, there was born in England one of the greatest scientists of all time, Isaac Newton.

Question: Who developed the theory of evolution?

Answer: Charles Darwin (1809–1882) developed the theory of evolution after studying animals and plants around the world.

Question: In which field did Marie Curie and her daughter Irene-Joliot Curie both win the Nobel Prize?

Answer: Marie Curie, also known as Madame Curie, and her daughter both won Nobel Prizes in chemistry.

Question: Who invented the safety elevator?

Answer: The safety elevator, which will not crash even if its cable breaks, was invented by the American Elisha Graves Otis in the 1850s.