Trivia questions about science; physics, chemistry, energy, elements, instruments and more.

Which scientist won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry and the Nobel Peace Prize?
A: Linus Pauling.

Who persuaded Einstein to write to President F D Roosevelt of the USA, warning him of the power of atomic fission?
A: Leo Szilard.

Who developed the modern system of classifying plants and animals?
A: Linnacus.

Who was captain of Darwin's ship HMS Beagle, and subsequently became governor of New Zealand.
A: Robert Fitzroy.

Robert Oppenheimer is remembered for his work on which invention?
A: Atomic Bomb.

Which radioactive element is named after the progenitor of the periodic table?
A: Mendelevium.

Who suggested that 'necessity is the mother of invention'?
A: Ovid.

Stephen Jay Gould developed which evolutionary theory?
A: Punctuated equilibrium.

What is a device in a machine which allows free movement, especially of a rotating shaft in a housing?
A: Bearing.

What is the branch of science concerning the study of bodies in motion?
A: Kinetics.

Who, referring to the principle of leverage, said, 'Give me the place to stand and I will move the earth'?
A: Archimedes.

Einstein left Germany to work at which American university?
A: Princeton.

In which area of science are the terms CPU, PC and VDU used?
A: Computer science.

What is 'Lamarckism'?
A: A theory of evolution.

Who shared a Nobel Prize for Physics with his son?
A:  William Bragg.

What is the word which means either the strength of an earthquake or the brightness of a star?
A: Magnitude.

Who claimed that the sciences and the arts were divided by a gaping chasm?
A: C. P. Snow.

Camphor is what type of chemical?
A: Ketone.

Potassium belongs to which group of elements?
A: Alkali metals.

What discovery, made by Alec Jeffreys in the mid-1980s, is now used as a means of identification?
A: Genetic Fingerprinting.

Who discovered X-rays?
A: Rontgen.

Which of Einstein's theories of relativity, the general or the special, was published first?
A: Special theory of relativity published in 1905.

What is another name for a rhombus whose internal angles are equal?
A: Square.

Who first proposed that the geological processes occurring now can be used to understand the changes of the past?
A: James Hutton.

Which metallic element, with the atomic number 83, is used to soothe gastric ulcers?
A: Bismuth.

What was the first synthetic plastic?
A: Bakelite.

What is the name for a three-dimensional curve generated by a line encircling a cylinder at a constant angle?
A: Helix.

Which scientist proposed that atoms are the smallest unit of matter?
A: Dalton.

Who was the first Englishman to put a dinosaur on show?
A: Richard Owen.

Who was the first scientist to win Nobel Prizes for Physics and Chemistry?
A: Marie Curie.

Which metaphysician developed the theory of calculus at the same time as did Newton?
A: Leibniz.

Which nebula is contained in the constellation Taurus?
A: The Crab.

What is the more common name for oil of vitriol?
A: Sulphuric acid.

What name is given to the medieval practices which tried to turn lead into silver and gold?
A: Alchemy.

Which field of learning attracted the attention of the ancient Greek Galen?
A: Medicine.

What is measured by a hygrometer and a hygroscope?
A: Relative humidity.

Who developed a general electrochemical theory as well as effective ways of poisoning people?
A: Fritz Haber.

The first florin, minted in 1252, was composed of which material?
A: Gold.