About this quiz
Major Scientific Inventions, Discoveries and Recent Scientific Activities
This Lok Sewa practice set has 50 multiple-choice questions (Subject: General Science · For: Kharidar · Level: Medium). Take the quiz above first; after that, use the study list below to revise every question with its correct answer and a short explanation.
Study list: all 50 questions with answers and explanations
Who invented the telephone?
- A) Edison
- B) Graham Bell ✔
- C) Marconi
- D) Baird
Why: Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone in 1876. His first call was to his assistant: 'Mr Watson, come here.'
The practical electric bulb was developed by:
- A) Thomas Edison ✔
- B) Nikola Tesla
- C) James Watt
- D) Newton
Why: Thomas Edison developed a long-lasting, practical electric bulb in 1879, which made electric lighting common in homes.
The radio is associated with:
- A) Marconi ✔
- B) Bell
- C) Fleming
- D) Baird
Why: Guglielmo Marconi of Italy developed long-distance radio (wireless telegraphy) in the 1890s and shared the 1909 Nobel Prize in Physics.
The first powered aeroplane was flown by the:
- A) Wright brothers ✔
- B) Montgolfier brothers
- C) Lumière brothers
- D) Grimm brothers
Why: Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first controlled, powered aeroplane flight in 1903 at Kitty Hawk, USA.
Television was invented by:
- A) John Logie Baird ✔
- B) Graham Bell
- C) Edison
- D) Tim Berners-Lee
Why: John Logie Baird of Scotland gave the first public demonstration of television in the 1920s.
Penicillin was discovered by:
- A) Edward Jenner
- B) Alexander Fleming ✔
- C) Louis Pasteur
- D) Jonas Salk
Why: Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin, the first antibiotic, in 1928 when mould killed bacteria in his lab dish.
The smallpox vaccine was developed by:
- A) Edward Jenner ✔
- B) Robert Koch
- C) Fleming
- D) Röntgen
Why: Edward Jenner developed the smallpox vaccine in 1796 using cowpox. Smallpox was later declared eradicated in 1980.
X-rays were discovered by:
- A) Röntgen ✔
- B) Curie
- C) Newton
- D) Faraday
Why: Wilhelm Röntgen discovered X-rays in 1895 and won the first Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901.
Who is called the father of the computer?
- A) Charles Babbage ✔
- B) Bill Gates
- C) Alan Turing
- D) Tim Berners-Lee
Why: Charles Babbage is called the father of the computer for designing the Difference Engine and the Analytical Engine in the 1800s.
The World Wide Web was invented by:
- A) Tim Berners-Lee ✔
- B) Steve Jobs
- C) Charles Babbage
- D) Mark Zuckerberg
Why: Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web in 1989 at CERN. The web runs on the internet, which existed earlier.
The theory of relativity was given by:
- A) Newton
- B) Einstein ✔
- C) Darwin
- D) Galileo
Why: Albert Einstein gave the special theory of relativity (1905), including E = mc², and the general theory (1915).
The first artificial satellite was:
- A) Apollo 11
- B) Sputnik 1 ✔
- C) Explorer 1
- D) NepaliSat-1
Why: Sputnik 1, launched by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957, was the first artificial satellite and started the space age.
The first human to walk on the Moon was:
- A) Yuri Gagarin
- B) Neil Armstrong ✔
- C) Buzz Aldrin
- D) Rakesh Sharma
Why: Neil Armstrong of the USA was the first person to walk on the Moon, on 20 July 1969, during Apollo 11.
The double helix structure of DNA was described by:
- A) Watson and Crick ✔
- B) Banting and Best
- C) Wright brothers
- D) Darwin and Wallace
Why: James Watson and Francis Crick described DNA's double helix structure in 1953, using X-ray work by Rosalind Franklin.
Dynamite was invented by:
- A) Alfred Nobel ✔
- B) Edison
- C) Marie Curie
- D) Volta
Why: Alfred Nobel invented dynamite in 1867. His fortune later funded the Nobel Prizes.
The steam engine was improved by:
- A) James Watt ✔
- B) Thomas Newcomen
- C) George Stephenson
- D) Faraday
Why: James Watt greatly improved the steam engine in 1769 with a separate condenser, powering the Industrial Revolution.
The electric motor/dynamo principle (electromagnetic induction) was discovered by:
- A) Michael Faraday ✔
- B) Edison
- C) Tesla
- D) Volta
Why: Michael Faraday discovered electromagnetic induction in 1831, the principle behind electric generators (dynamos) and transformers.
The electric battery was invented by:
- A) Alessandro Volta ✔
- B) Galvani
- C) Faraday
- D) Ohm
Why: Alessandro Volta invented the first electric battery, the voltaic pile, in 1800. The unit volt is named after him.
Alternating current (AC) systems are associated with:
- A) Nikola Tesla ✔
- B) Edison
- C) Volta
- D) Ampere
Why: Nikola Tesla developed alternating current (AC) motors and power systems, now used for electricity supply worldwide.
The printing press with movable type was invented by:
- A) Johannes Gutenberg ✔
- B) Caxton
- C) Edison
- D) Bell
Why: Johannes Gutenberg of Germany invented the movable-type printing press around 1440, which spread books and learning.
The telescope was improved and used for astronomy by:
- A) Galileo Galilei ✔
- B) Newton
- C) Copernicus
- D) Kepler
Why: Galileo Galilei improved the telescope in 1609 and used it to observe Jupiter's moons and the phases of Venus.
The heliocentric theory was given by:
- A) Copernicus ✔
- B) Ptolemy
- C) Galileo
- D) Aristotle
Why: Nicolaus Copernicus proposed the heliocentric theory: the Sun, not the Earth, is at the centre and planets move around it.
The laws of planetary motion were given by:
- A) Johannes Kepler ✔
- B) Newton
- C) Galileo
- D) Brahe
Why: Johannes Kepler gave three laws of planetary motion, including that planets move in elliptical orbits around the Sun.
The polio vaccine was developed by:
- A) Jonas Salk ✔
- B) Jenner
- C) Pasteur
- D) Fleming
Why: Jonas Salk developed the first effective polio vaccine, introduced in 1955. Albert Sabin later made the oral vaccine.
Pasteurisation and the rabies vaccine are linked with:
- A) Louis Pasteur ✔
- B) Robert Koch
- C) Jenner
- D) Lister
Why: Louis Pasteur developed pasteurisation (heating to kill germs) and the rabies vaccine, and helped prove the germ theory.
The tuberculosis bacterium was discovered by:
- A) Robert Koch ✔
- B) Pasteur
- C) Fleming
- D) Ross
Why: Robert Koch discovered the tuberculosis bacterium in 1882. 24 March, the day he announced it, is World TB Day.
Radioactivity was discovered by:
- A) Henri Becquerel ✔
- B) Marie Curie
- C) Rutherford
- D) Bohr
Why: Henri Becquerel discovered radioactivity in 1896, and shared the 1903 Nobel Prize with Marie and Pierre Curie.
Radium and polonium were discovered by:
- A) Marie and Pierre Curie ✔
- B) Becquerel
- C) Rutherford
- D) Dalton
Why: Marie and Pierre Curie discovered radium and polonium in 1898. Marie Curie won Nobel Prizes in both Physics and Chemistry.
The atomic nucleus was discovered by:
- A) Ernest Rutherford ✔
- B) JJ Thomson
- C) Bohr
- D) Chadwick
Why: Ernest Rutherford discovered the atomic nucleus through his gold foil experiment (1911): most of an atom's mass is in a tiny centre.
The electron was discovered by:
- A) JJ Thomson ✔
- B) Rutherford
- C) Chadwick
- D) Bohr
Why: J. J. Thomson discovered the electron in 1897 while studying cathode rays.
The neutron was discovered by:
- A) James Chadwick ✔
- B) Rutherford
- C) Thomson
- D) Fermi
Why: James Chadwick discovered the neutron in 1932, completing the basic picture of the atom (protons, neutrons, electrons).
The periodic table was developed by:
- A) Dmitri Mendeleev ✔
- B) Dalton
- C) Lavoisier
- D) Boyle
Why: Dmitri Mendeleev arranged the elements into the periodic table in 1869 and left gaps for elements not yet discovered.
The laws of heredity were given by:
- A) Gregor Mendel ✔
- B) Darwin
- C) Lamarck
- D) Watson
Why: Gregor Mendel found the laws of heredity from experiments on pea plants, so he is called the father of genetics.
Blood groups (ABO) were discovered by:
- A) Karl Landsteiner ✔
- B) Harvey
- C) Jenner
- D) Koch
Why: Karl Landsteiner discovered the ABO blood groups in 1901, which made safe blood transfusion possible.
Blood circulation was described by:
- A) William Harvey ✔
- B) Landsteiner
- C) Galen
- D) Vesalius
Why: William Harvey described how the heart pumps blood around the body in 1628.
Insulin was discovered by:
- A) Banting and Best ✔
- B) Fleming
- C) Salk
- D) Pasteur
Why: Frederick Banting and Charles Best discovered insulin in 1921, which made treatment of diabetes possible.
The first computer programmer is considered to be:
- A) Ada Lovelace ✔
- B) Charles Babbage
- C) Alan Turing
- D) Grace Hopper
Why: Ada Lovelace wrote the first algorithm for Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine, so she is called the first computer programmer.
The telegraph and Morse code are linked with:
- A) Samuel Morse ✔
- B) Bell
- C) Marconi
- D) Edison
Why: Samuel Morse developed the electric telegraph and Morse code, a system of dots and dashes for sending messages.
The phonograph was invented by:
- A) Thomas Edison ✔
- B) Bell
- C) Marconi
- D) Tesla
Why: Thomas Edison invented the phonograph in 1877, the first machine to record and play back sound.
The motor car with petrol engine is credited to:
- A) Karl Benz ✔
- B) Henry Ford
- C) Daimler only
- D) Diesel
Why: Karl Benz built the first practical petrol-engine motor car in 1885/86 in Germany.
The diesel engine was invented by:
- A) Rudolf Diesel ✔
- B) Karl Benz
- C) Watt
- D) Otto
Why: Rudolf Diesel invented the diesel engine in the 1890s; it ignites fuel by compression instead of a spark.
The mass-production assembly line for cars is linked with:
- A) Henry Ford ✔
- B) Karl Benz
- C) Edison
- D) Wright
Why: Henry Ford introduced the moving assembly line for the Model T, which made cars cheaper and common.
The first man in space was:
- A) Yuri Gagarin ✔
- B) Neil Armstrong
- C) Alan Shepard
- D) John Glenn
Why: Yuri Gagarin of the Soviet Union became the first human in space on 12 April 1961, aboard Vostok 1.
The first woman in space was:
- A) Valentina Tereshkova ✔
- B) Sally Ride
- C) Kalpana Chawla
- D) Junko Tabei
Why: Valentina Tereshkova of the Soviet Union became the first woman in space in 1963, aboard Vostok 6.
Apollo 11 landed on the Moon in:
- A) 1969 ✔
- B) 1961
- C) 1957
- D) 1972
Why: Apollo 11 landed on the Moon in July 1969, with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walking on its surface.
The thermometer scale with 0 and 100 for water is the:
- A) Celsius scale ✔
- B) Fahrenheit scale
- C) Kelvin scale
- D) Rankine scale
Why: The Celsius scale, named after Anders Celsius, sets water's freezing point at 0 °C and boiling point at 100 °C.
The microscope improvements for seeing microbes are linked with:
- A) Antonie van Leeuwenhoek ✔
- B) Hooke
- C) Galileo
- D) Newton
Why: Antonie van Leeuwenhoek made powerful microscopes and was the first to see bacteria, so he is called the father of microbiology.
The cell was first named by:
- A) Robert Hooke ✔
- B) Leeuwenhoek
- C) Schleiden
- D) Virchow
Why: Robert Hooke first used the word 'cell' in 1665 after seeing tiny box-like units in cork under a microscope.
The mobile phone (first handheld call, 1973) is credited to:
- A) Martin Cooper ✔
- B) Bell
- C) Jobs
- D) Marconi
Why: Martin Cooper of Motorola made the first handheld mobile phone call in 1973.
Nobel Prizes are named after the inventor of:
- A) Dynamite ✔
- B) Telephone
- C) Radio
- D) Bulb
Why: The Nobel Prizes are named after Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, who left his fortune to fund them.