Science Quiz: Overturned ideas in the history of science

1 / 6 |
In the mediaeval era, astronomers defended the geocentric model of the universe using the idea of epicycles and Z, shown here as the smaller and larger dashed circles, respectively. Name Z.

2 / 6 |
Scholars once invoked this theory to explain why metals could burn without gaining apparent mass. It was dismissed after Antoine Lavoisier’s experiments revealed that some component of air reacts with substances when they are burnt, forcing chemists to abandon the theory. Name it.

3 / 6 |
Before Michelson’s and Morley’s 1887 experiment, natural philosophers assumed a medium called X permeated the universe, allowing light waves to travel everywhere. Eighteen years after the experiment, a theory called X posited that light didn’t need a new medium to travel in, rendering X superfluous. Name X and Y.

Answer : X =  luminiferous aether; Y = special theory of relativity

DID YOU KNOW THE ANSWER?
YES
NO

SHOW ANSWER

4 / 6 |
For centuries, scholars believed living beings could arise de novo from mud, meat or grain. This idea, called ___________ __________, was challenged by a series of experiments in the 17th century conducted by Francesco Redi, an Italian physician who showed that maggots are born from the eggs of flies. Fill in the blanks.

5 / 6 |
Name the early 20th century hypothesis — which claimed that the different heat capacities of land and ocean surfaces caused continents to move — that was later eclipsed by paleomagnetic data and evidence of spreading seafloors revealing the theory of plate tectonics.

6 / 6 |
Until the early 20th century, physicists assumed that heat had no lower limit and could be extracted to an infinite degree from an object. The idea was dethroned when, in their race to liquefy helium first, James Dewar and Q found that the temperature designated 0 K is actually unattainable. Name Q.