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Friday, August 01, 2008

The Friday Brain-teaser from Credo Reference

The Friday Brain-teaser from Credo Reference - this week: Inventors. Answers here.

Many things are named after the people who invented or discovered them, or were associated with them. Can you answer these questions about inventions and discoveries?

Questions:
1. The name of the world's highest mountain was recommended by the surveyor-general of India (1790-1866), who was the first to undertake detailed mapping of the Himalayas. What is the mountain's name?
2. A well-known scale for expressing the magnitude of earthquakes is named after an American seismologist who devised it in 1935 with the German Beno Gutenberg. What was the American seismologist's surname?
3. What was the surname of the French musician and inventor, first name Louis, who in 1824 developed a method of coding information to enable the blind to read, using groups of six raised spots produced by embossing paper?
4. A famous space telescope which was launched in 1990 and orbits the earth was named after an American astronomer (1889-1953) who investigated nebulae and the galaxies. What was his surname?
5. What was the surname of the German physicist, whose first name was Hans, who invented a device for counting atomic particles?
6. What type of clothing was named after Mrs Amelia Bloomer of New York, about 1850?
7. The Swedish inventor of dynamite, who died in 1896, endowed a series of prizes which are awarded annually for work in such subjects as physics, medicine and literature. What was his name?
8. A reversal of sounds in two words, with humorous effect, is named after an English clergyman and scholar who supposedly said things like "May I sew you to another sheet?" when he meant "May I show you to another seat?". What was his surname?
9. A phrase for "a choice that is not a choice at all" is named after an Elizabethan stable-owner who would only lend out the one horse nearest the stable door. What was his surname?
10. A miner's safety lamp is named after the English chemist who invented it. His first name was Humphry; what was his surname?

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