General Awareness · History

Famous Personalities and Discoveries

2,748 Questions

Famous personalities and discoveries questions test your knowledge of historical figures, scientists, and their groundbreaking inventions. These are highly scoring topics in SSC, banking, and state PSC general awareness sections. Solve these questions to memorize important contributions easily.

Famous astronomersFathers of scientific fieldsHistorical inventorsMathematical pioneers

Famous Personalities and Discoveries Questions

Multiple choice

Who is known as the father of modern seismology

  1. Charles Richter

  2. R. D. Oldham

  3. W. M. Davis

  4. None of these
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

R. D. Oldham is widely recognized for his pioneering work in seismology, specifically for identifying the P, S, and surface waves, earning him the title of the father of modern seismology.

Multiple choice history why did people want to vote? age of protest and law & order impact of industrial revolution democratic and nationalist revolutions in europe

Who designed the square plan design for workhouses?

  1. Sampson Kempthorne

  2. John Soane

  3. Herbert Baker

  4. Charles Holden
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Sampson Kempthorne (1809–1873) was an English architect who specialised in the design of workhouses, before his emigration to New Zealand. Kempthorne came up with two designs – the square plan and the hexagonal or "Y" plan – both contained sections for the different types of inmates (men, women, boys, girls, infirm). The space between different wings was used to provide areas where inmates could exercise – segregated from the other groups. Kempthorne designed workhouses in Abingdon, Andover, Bath, Crediton, Hastings, and Newhaven. Hence, Option A is correct.

Multiple choice

Who is known as Historian ?

  1. A scholar who writes historical narratives

  2. A scholar who writes scientific experiment

  3. A scholar who writes astrology

  4. A scholar who writes essay
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

A historian is a person who studies, researches, and writes about the past, typically by analyzing historical narratives and primary source documents.

Multiple choice chemistry basic concepts of chemistry history of atomic model atomic theory of dalton daltons atomic theory

Law of constant proportion is given by _________.

  1. Thompson

  2. Dalton

  3. Joseph Louis Proust

  4. None of these
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Joseph Louis Proust had given the law of constant proportion.


The law of constant proportions states that chemical compounds are made up of elements that are present in a fixed ratio by mass. This implies that any pure sample of a compound, no matter the source, will always consist of the same elements that are present in the same ratio by mass. For example, pure water will always contain hydrogen and oxygen in a fixed mass ratio (a gram of water consists of approximately 0.11 grams of hydrogen and 0.88 grams of oxygen, the ratio is 1:8).

Hence, the correct option is $\text{C}$

Multiple choice

Which historical figure is often credited with popularizing the term 'NOMA' (Non-Overlapping Magisteria)?

  1. Stephen Hawking

  2. Richard Dawkins

  3. Stephen Jay Gould

  4. Albert Einstein
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Stephen Jay Gould proposed the concept of NOMA, which suggests that science and religion operate in distinct domains and do not necessarily conflict with each other.

Multiple choice

Which medieval scientist developed the theory of impetus, which was a precursor to the concept of inertia?

  1. Albertus Magnus

  2. Roger Bacon

  3. Jean Buridan

  4. Nicole Oresme
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Jean Buridan was a French philosopher and scientist who developed the theory of impetus, which was a precursor to the concept of inertia. He argued that a moving object would continue to move until it was acted upon by an external force.

Multiple choice

Which medieval scientist developed the theory of planetary motion that was later adopted by Nicolaus Copernicus?

  1. Ptolemy

  2. Aristarchus of Samos

  3. Tycho Brahe

  4. Al-Battani
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Al-Battani was a medieval Arab astronomer and mathematician who developed a theory of planetary motion that was later adopted by Nicolaus Copernicus. He argued that the Earth rotated on its axis and that the planets revolved around the Sun.

Multiple choice

Which medieval scientist developed the theory of the conservation of mass?

  1. Antoine Lavoisier

  2. John Dalton

  3. Robert Boyle

  4. Al-Khwarizmi
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Antoine Lavoisier was a French chemist who developed the theory of the conservation of mass. He showed that the mass of the products of a chemical reaction is equal to the mass of the reactants.

Multiple choice

Which medieval scientist developed the theory of the heliocentric universe, which placed the Sun at the center of the solar system?

  1. Nicolaus Copernicus

  2. Galileo Galilei

  3. Johannes Kepler

  4. Tycho Brahe
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Nicolaus Copernicus was a Polish astronomer who developed the theory of the heliocentric universe, which placed the Sun at the center of the solar system. He published his theory in his book De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium in 1543.