General Awareness · Science General

Inventors and Scientific Discoveries

4,616 Questions

This hub provides questions related to great inventors and their scientific discoveries. It covers the inventors of the telephone, radio, and microchips, alongside Nobel Prize winners. These facts are crucial for the general awareness section of major competitive exams.

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Inventors and Scientific Discoveries Questions

Multiple choice general knowledge science & technology

Where was the PLC first developed, and by who?

  1. In Germany by Werner von Braun

  2. In the USA by Dick Morley

  3. Not any one place or inventor

  4. In Japan by Yamaguchi Morimoto of Mitsubishi
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The first PLC was developed in 1968 at General Motors' Hydramatic division in the United States, with Dick Morley widely credited as the 'father of the PLC.' This revolutionized industrial automation by replacing hard-wired relay systems.

Multiple choice general knowledge

Who designed TCS,Siruseri

  1. Cersar Pelli

  2. Carlos

  3. Minoru Yamasaki

  4. Alexandre Gustave
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The TCS Siruseri campus was designed by Carlos Ott, the renowned Uruguayan architect known for major international projects including the Opera Bastille in Paris. His design philosophy emphasized modern, functional architecture. The other listed architects are famous for different landmark buildings.

Multiple choice general knowledge science & technology

According to Steve Wozniak, what famous hacker wrote the first word processor for the Apple II?

  1. Then-imprisoned hacker and "phone phreak" John Draper (aka Captain Crunch)

  2. Kevin Mitnick, two decades before he went to prison in 1996

  3. Robert T. Morris, who also created the first known worm virus

  4. Jason Burks, aka v00d00, for whom 1976 was an extremely important year
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

John Draper (Captain Crunch) wrote the first word processor for the Apple II while he was imprisoned. This is documented by Steve Wozniak, who co-founded Apple. Kevin Mitnick, Robert T. Morris, and Jason Burks were not the writers of this specific word processor.

Multiple choice general knowledge science & technology

In addition to co-inventing Ethernet technology at Xeroc PARC labs in 1973, Bob Metcalfe is famous for:

  1. Metcalfe's Law that a network system's value is proportional to the square of its user population

  2. Predicting in 1997 that the Internet would soon fail due to traffic or he would eat his words -- and did, mushing his paper with liquid in a blender a year later

  3. Predicting that Microsoft Windows 2000 would kill Linux, likening the open source movement to "utopian balderdash" with "open sores"

  4. All of the above
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Bob Metcalfe is famous for all three accomplishments: co-inventing Ethernet, formulating Metcalfe's Law about network value, and making failed predictions about the Internet (which he literally ate his words about by blending his column). The 1997 Internet collapse prediction and his Windows 2000 vs Linux comments are both documented tech industry moments.

Multiple choice general knowledge science & technology

Hardware pioneers Lynn Conway and Carver Meade are best known for their revolutionary work on popularizing VLSI chip design. Lesser known is that:

  1. Lynn was once a man

  2. Carver was once a woman

  3. Lynn and Carver were secretly married on the IBM yacht, The Megabyte

  4. None of the above
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Lynn Conway is a transgender woman who transitioned in the 1960s. Before her transition, she was known as Robert Conway and worked at IBM. After being forced out of IBM due to her transition, she co-authored the definitive textbook on VLSI design with Carver Mead, revolutionizing chip design. This personal history is the 'lesser known fact' referenced. Option B (Carver was once a woman) and C (secret marriage on IBM yacht) are incorrect.

Multiple choice general knowledge science & technology

I was a 19th century German chemist. I was the first to synthesize isobutyric acid, guanide, creatine, creatinine, and tyrosine. I also discovered an important rule about alcohols, which is named after me. But that's not what my name makes most people think of! It's the clever flask I invented! And I bet they can't even remember my full name, much less spell it right. Who am I?

  1. Engelbert Test Tube

  2. Friedrich von Beaker

  3. Richard August Carl Emil Erlenmeyer

  4. Fritz Flask
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

This describes Richard August Carl Emil Erlenmeyer, a 19th-century German chemist who invented the iconic conical laboratory flask that bears his name. He also formulated rules about alcohols and synthesized several organic compounds, but the flask made his name immortal.

Multiple choice general knowledge science & technology

I was another 19th century German chemist. I pioneered the fields of emission spectroscopy and photochemistry, and I also co-discovered two elements, cesium and rubidium. Despite these accomplishments, I'm best remembered for my nifty little burner, which made much of my work possible. Who am I?

  1. Robert Bunsen

  2. Friedrich Woehler

  3. Gustav Kirchhoff

  4. George Burns
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Robert Bunsen was a 19th-century German chemist who co-discovered cesium and rubidium, pioneered emission spectroscopy and photochemistry, and invented the Bunsen burner. The burner, which produces a nearly non-luminous flame, was crucial for his spectroscopy work and remains a standard laboratory tool today.

Multiple choice general knowledge science & technology

I was also a 19th century chemist, but French this time. My accomplishments are so many that they are hard to list: I developed vaccination, discovered the germ theory of disease, proposed the existence of viruses, invented stereochemistry... Today, you can see my name on almost any milk carton. Who am I?

  1. Jean-Pierre Homogen

  2. Jonas Salk

  3. Edward Jenner

  4. Louis Pasteur
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Louis Pasteur developed the germ theory of disease, created vaccines (including for rabies and anthrax), proposed the existence of viruses, invented stereochemistry, and his pasteurization process is used to make milk safe - hence his name appearing on milk cartons as 'pasteurized'.

Multiple choice general knowledge science & technology

I was a 20th century physicist at Princeton and MIT. I designed apparatus for experiments in radiation and particle physics. My eponymous invention, a static electricity generator, has been superseded by other, higher energy devices. But, it is still used for demonstrations in classrooms and science museums worldwide. Who am I?

  1. Robert Shocking

  2. Frank Zappa

  3. Sam "Lightnin’" Hopkins

  4. Robert Jemison Van de Graaff
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Robert Jemison Van de Graaff invented the Van de Graaff generator in 1929, an electrostatic generator that can produce high voltages used in particle accelerators. While mostly replaced by more powerful devices, it remains popular for educational demonstrations because it safely shows static electricity principles.

Multiple choice general knowledge science & technology

I was a 20th century German physicist. I did extensive work on radioactivity with Ernest Rutherford, and devised a formula, named after me, for the velocities of particles. I contributed to the discovery of the atomic nucleus, and participated in Germany's effort to build an atom bomb. The radiation counter I developed and steadily improved upon is still used today. Who am I?

  1. Werner Heisenberg

  2. J. J. Thomson

  3. Niels Bohr

  4. Hans Geiger
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Hans Geiger worked with Ernest Rutherford on radioactivity experiments and developed the Geiger counter in 1908, a device that detects and measures ionizing radiation. He also co-developed the Geiger-Marsden experiment (gold foil experiment) which led to the discovery of the atomic nucleus.

Multiple choice general knowledge science & technology

I was a twentieth century German physicist who helped develop modern quantum theory. My wave equation was one of my greatest discoveries, and I received a Nobel Prize for it. But, you've probably heard of me because of my cat. Is it alive, or is it dead? Let's open the box. Who am I?

  1. Max Planck

  2. Hermann Weyl

  3. Max Wein

  4. Erwin Schrödinger
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Erwin Schrodinger developed the wave equation in 1926, a fundamental equation in quantum mechanics that describes how the quantum state of a physical system changes over time. His famous thought experiment, 'Schrodinger's cat,' illustrates the paradox of quantum superposition - the cat being simultaneously alive and dead until observed.

Multiple choice general knowledge science & technology

What was the name of the British Mathematician who worked out the principles of the computer in the 19th century?

  1. Charles Babbage

  2. Blaise Pascal

  3. G.W.Lientz

  4. None of the Above
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Charles Babbage designed the Difference Engine and Analytical Engine in the 19th century, establishing fundamental principles of modern computing including programmability and the concept of a general-purpose computer.

Multiple choice general knowledge

Who took the world's first photograph?

  1. George Eastman

  2. Edwin Land

  3. Joseph Niépce

  4. Guglielmo Marconi
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Joseph Nicéphore Niépce created the first surviving photograph in 1826 or 1827, known as 'View from the Window at Le Gras.' George Eastman founded Kodak and popularized photography, Edwin Land invented the Polaroid camera, and Guglielmo Marconi developed radio telegraphy - none took the first photograph.

Multiple choice general knowledge

Which inventor discovered penicillin?

  1. Benjamin Franklin

  2. Francis Crick

  3. Alexander Fleming

  4. Louis Pasteur
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in 1928 at St. Mary's Hospital in London when he noticed mold growing on a petri dish that killed bacteria. Benjamin Franklin, Francis Crick (co-discoverer of DNA structure), and Louis Pasteur (pasteurization) did not discover penicillin.