George Gamow Memorial Tournament – Match 4
Questions by George Mason University
Related Tossup/Bonus
1) This team has been in existence since the 1870s, when they were in Boston. Among their claims to fame are having an ailing Babe Ruth on their team for a few months and beating the Yankees in the 1957 World Series. For ten points name this team whose members include Eddie Perez, Rafael Furcal and John Rocker.
Answer: Atlanta Braves (accept either)
BONUS: Identify the following sports teams from players, some of whom have since retired or gone on to other teams.
1: Walt Frazier, Dave Debuscher and John Starks.
Answer: New York Knicks
2: Earl Morrall, Jim Harbaugh, Marcus Pollard.
Answer: IndianapolisColts (accept either)
2) Youngest of 8, this Jewish king did not kill his borthers for the crown. He was born in Bethlahem. and was later anointed by Samuel. However, this biblical charater is known as the king with which whom God made a covenant promising that his house would always rule Isreal. For ten point, who is this king?
Answer: King David
BONUS: For 10 points each, answer these other questions related to King David.
1: What house is David of?
Answer: The house of David
2: This artist created one of the most famous sculpture of all time on the ideal of King David. In fact, both the statue and the king share the same name. Name the artist of this marble work which stands in the Uffizi gallery in Florence, Italy.
Answer: Michaelangelo
3) This island is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and current home of Arthur C. Clarke. Lying between it and its larger northern neighbor is a chain of tiny islands known as Adam's Bridge. Large cities include Jaffna, Kotte, and Colombo, the capitol. For ten points name this nation known for its tea, formerly known as Ceylon, the southern neighbor of the subcontinent India.
Answer: Sri Lanka
BONUS: Name these other island states FTPE:
1: Located approximately 400 miles southeast of Fiji and approximately 1,150 miles northeast of New Zealand, it is the only remaining Polynesian monarchy. It has recently made considerable money off the sale of domain names, taking advantage of its suffix.
Answer: Tonga
2: It is bordered by the Wetar Strait to the north and its namesake sea to the south. Dili is the capitol. For their nonviolent efforts at bringing peace to this island, Belo and Ramos-Horta were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996.
Answer: East Timor (do not prompt on or accept Timor)
4) A contemporary of Solon and Croesus, he supposedly predicted a solar eclipse, as reported by Herodotus. Eudomos, who wrote the first history of mathematics, credits him with introducing geometry into Hellas. He is credited with being the first human being who can rightly be called a man of science. He believed that the earth was a flat disc which floats on water. and maintained that water is the material cause of all things. For ten points name this man considered by many as the first real philosopher.
Answer: Thales
BONUS: Identify these movements in Greek philosophy, ten points each.
1: Founded near Athens about 310 by Zeno of Citium (in Cyprus), and brought to fuller systematic form by his successors a heads of the school, Cleanthes of Assos, and especially Chrysippus of Soli, who died about 206, important writers of this manner of the Roman period include Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius.
Answer: Stoicism
2: The practical tendency of Stoicism and Epicureanism, seen in the search for happiness, is also apparent in this school founded by Pyrrho of Elis, which disputes the possibility of attaining truth by sensory apprehension, reason, or the two combined, and thence infers the necessity of total suspension of judgment on things.
Answer: Skepticism
5) The first developments were made by the Greeks and further developments were made by Zeno of Elea, Luca Valerio, Fermat, Roberval, Cavalieri, Descartes, Hudde, Torricelli, and Euler. Originallyseen as two problems, the Tangent Problem and the Area Problem, its “Fundamental theorem” states that these are actually the same thing. FTP, name this system of mathematics discovered independently by Leibniz and Newton.
A: Calculus
BONUS: An important part of calculus is the study of curves. For ten points each, given a description, name the curve.
1: The orbits of repeating comets follow these curves, in which the sum of the distances between a point and two foci is constant.
Answer: ellipse
2: Objects moving in space at greater than escape velocity follow these paths, whose eccentricites are greater than 1.
A: hyperbola
6) He was most probably born in Tuscany, the illegitimate son of a merchant of Certaldo, who launched him on a commercial career, during which he spent some time at Paris. The Teseide is a version in ottava rima of the medieval romance of Palamon and Arcite. The Filostrato deals with the loves of Troilus and Cressida. For ten points name this man who formed his most famous work from one hundred stories told during the plague at Florence in 1348, made into the Decameron.
Answer: Giovanni Bocaccio
BONUS: Identify these other famous works dealing with sex, for ten points each.
1: This poem was written by Andrew Marvell, and includes the popular phrase "But at my back I always hear/Time's winged chariot hurrying near."
Answer: "To His Coy Mistress"
2: It was writen by Vatsyayana, in Sanskrit, for the noble class, and was first translated in to English by Sir Richard Burton in 1883. Often-ignored sections involve ropes and pulleys and bee stings.
Answer: The Kama Sutra
7) This man was born in Texarkana, TX in 1930 and began working as a computer salesman for IBM. A graduate of the US Naval Academy, in 1962 he formed Electronic Data Systems which would go on to become a multi-billion dollar corporation. For ten points name this man who ran for the presidency in 1992 and 1996 and founded the Reform Party.
Answer: H(enry) Ross Perot
BONUS: For 5 points each, given their party, name these other third party presidential candidates running in the 2000 election.
1: The Green Party
Answer: Ralph Nader
2: The Natural Law Party
Answer: John Hagelin
3: The Libertarian Party
Answer: Harry Browne
4: The Reform Party
Answer: Pat Buchanan (prompt on “pure evil”)
8) At the age of 14 he joined other members of his family in the service of the Syrian ruler Nur ad-Din. In 1169 he was made commander in chief of the Syrian army and vizier of Egypt. He expelled the Fatimids out of their palaces and sent them to exile. He built the Citadel in Cairo, which still stands. For ten points name this 12th century Muslim leader, who invaded the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem from the Crusaders.
Answer: Saladin (also accept Salad ah-Din Yusuf)
BONUS: Identify these crusades based on key facts, ten points each.
1: Pope Urban II issues a speech including these words: "The noble race of Franks must come to the aid their fellow Christians in the East. The infidel Turks are advancing into the heart of Eastern Christendom; . . . The Holy Sepulchre is in Moslem hands and has been turned into a mosque. Pilgrims are harassed and even prevented from access to the Holy Land."
Answer: First crusade
2: This Crusade did not recover Jerusalem--in fact, it never even made it to Outremer (OO-truh-mare); rather, the Crusaders ended by attacking Constantinople, driving out the Byzantine Emperor, and installing one of their own in the ancient capital of Constantine. Innocent III ordered the crusade.
Answer: Fourth Crusade
Category Quiz
Toss Ups:
1) He committed suicide in 1954 by ingesting cyanide after two years of estrogen treatment designed to kill his libido as part of his sentence for being a convicted homosexual. Born in 1912, this British mathematician and philosopher is most famous for his work in computer science and cryptology. Credited with the paper that lay the foundations for the Von Neuman machine as well as breaking the Enigma code, this man who, for ten points, also gave his name to the test by which artificial intelligence is measured.
Answer: Alan Turing
2) The 1953 film version earned visionary producer George Pal a special 1953 Academy Award for Best Special Effects. Pal’s version is a work of frightening imagination, with its manta-ray spaceships armed with cobra-like probes that shoot a white-hot disintegration ray. Pal also moved the setting further west to California, just as it had been moved from England to New Jersey for the 1938 radio adaptation by Orson Welles. FTP, name this science fiction classic, in which simple Earth bacteria finally conquer the invaders, written by H.G. Wells.
Answer: The War of The Worlds
3) "That election of members of parliament ought to be free. That the freedom of speech, and debates or proceedings in parliament, ought not to be impeached or questioned in any court or place out of parliament." The document whence these quotes come limited the right to raise money through taxation to Parliament. For ten points name this 17th century legal document.
Answer: The English Bill of Rights (1689)
4) The huge explosion that occurred is still unexplained, as is how some of the trees in the forest remained standing, some were knocked over like twigs, and none were burnt. Nobody has ever found any debris, though the events in Russia at the time precluded an immediate research team. Possible explanations range from a quantum black hole exploding or comet colliding with the earth to a UFO crash. FTP give the name of this June 30, 1908 event, also the name of the isolated region of Siberia in which it occurred.
Answer: Tunguska event
5) He was born in 1685 near Thomastown, Ireland. He attended Trinity College in Dublin. His Philosophical Commentaries was originally titled Common-Place Book. In 1713, he left Ireland for London to become a clergyman. A guy named Johnson who did not concur with this philosopher once kicked a rock in refutation of his philosophy. This philosopher is known for, among other things, authoring Three Dialogues Between Hylas and Philonous. For ten points, name this philosopher/clergyman, most noted for his philosophy of idealism.
Answer: George Berkeley (pronounced BARKLEY)
6) Though he only lived 27 years, this 8th century monarch got about as high as is possible, being anointed as the Chosen of the Lord by the Pope in 754 AD. Three years earlier he had been crowned king of the Franks by Boniface. For ten points name this sucessor to and son of Charles Martel.
Answer: Pepin the short (accept Pepin le bref or Pepin III)
Bonuses:
Mathematics -- Perfect Proportion: The ratios of consecutive Fibonacci numbers converge on this value. This number has the unique property that to find its square, all you need to do is add one to it, and is equal to the one plus the square root of five quantity divided by two. F15P, identify this number which gives the “ideal” proportion used in classical artwork.
Answer: Golden Ratio or Golden Number or Phi
World Literature -- PeopleGerard Depardieu Respects: He directed eleven movies from 1932 to 1954, including "The Well-Digger's Daughter" and "Letters from my Windmill". He also wrote "La Gloire de Mon Pere" and "Manon des Sources". F15P, identify this French writer/director who also wrote "Jean de Florette".
Answer: Marcel Pagnol
American History -- Out-Of-Place Rebs: The bank of this town was raided in October of 1864 by Condeferate soldiers to help fund the war, though the raiders escaped to Canada. F15PName this northern Vermont town, site of northernmost action of the Civil War.
Answer: St. Albans, VT
World History -- Randy Scholars: He wrote "Sic et Non" and stated, "By doubting we come to inquiry, and by inquiry we arrive at the truth." He is more famous for an affair with a 17-year-old student named Heloise, for which the church councils at Soissons and Sens condemned him. F15P, name this man, father of Astrolabe, depicted in puppets by Craig Schwartz in “Being John Malkovich.”
Answer: Peter Abelard
Fine Arts -- Rock Me: One story has his mother waking him up by playing the first seven notes of the scale, do through ti, and letting the unresolved tension of the leading tone stir him. For 15 points, dame the composer of the Classical period whose works include the opera "Idomeneo", the piano concerto sometimes referred to as "Elvira Madigan", and the "Jupiter" Symphony, who died at the age of 35.
Answer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Physical Sciences -- Not Freeman Dyson: This man created the geodesic dome and suggested using this structure to cover cities, most notably New York City. For fifteen points, name this engineer for whom a chemical structure, geodesic-dome shaped and made of 60 carbon atoms, is named in honor.
Answer: Richard Buckminster Fuller
Social Sciences -- Good with Money: This prestigous award is sponored by Sveriges Riksbank, beter know as the bank of Sweden. It is awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, and the Swedish Academy among others. F15P, name this award, whose winners this year are James J. Heckman and Daniel L. McFadden.
Answer: Nobel prize for Economics (prompt on partial answer)
Geography -- Places the CIA messed up: The Sandinistas are no longer in power and the prevailing economic ideology, dictated by the likes of the World Bank and the IMF, involves massive privatization and deregulation, and of course high unemployment and widespread poverty. The unit of currency is the gold cordoba. F15P, name this central American country, an important part of the Iran-Contra scandal, with capital at Managua.
Answer: Nicaragua
Stretch Round
Toss Ups:
1) He argued that the English government had the divine responsibility to correct the abuses of the church in its realm and to relieve of office those churchmen who persisted in sin. The state could even seize the property of corrupt church officials. In 1377 the Pope condemned his teachings. For ten points name this man who died at his parish at Lutterworth in 1384, after helping to translate the Bible into the language of craftsmen and peasants - English.
Answer: John Wycliffe
2) His parents wanted him to be a doctor and he had reluctantly to rely on journalism for a while in his middle years, but medical school was all a bad dream to this composer. Married in 1833 to the woman who was the impetus behind his first symphony. Later works include "Le retour a la vie", renamed Lelio in 1855 and overtures to King Lear and Rob Roy. For ten points name the husband of Harriet Smithson and composer of Symphony Fantastique.
Answer: Hector Berlioz
3) Discovered by archaeologists in 1901, it is a set of 282 rules inscribed in stone which deal mainly with moral issues of ancient Mesopotamia. For ten points, name this set of laws, named for the Babylonian king who rules around 1750 BC, and who first presents the judgement "an eye for an eye".
Answer: Code of Hammurabi
4) A young man from Minnesota and educated at Yale moves to New York in the summer of 1922 to learn about the bond business. He rents a house in a wealthy but unfashionable area called West Egg on Long Island. It is home to the new rich, a group who have made their fortunes too recently to have established social connections, and who love garish displays of wealth and opulence. For ten points name this man who is the narrator in "The Great Gatsby".
Answer: Nick Carraway (prompt on "The Great Gatsby")
5) Primarily known as a philosopher, he also wrote substantial histories, and in his essays dealt with political, sociological and economic topics. For ten points name this 18th century Scottish who wrote such works as "An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding", "History of England" and "A Treatise on Human Nature" and who argued that the events of the past cannot be exactly used to determine the events of the future.
Answer: David Hume
6) "We're goin' t' move t'morrah--sure," he said pompously to a group in the company street. "We're goin' 'way up the river, cut across, an' come around in behint 'em." This line is spoken by the tall soldier in a work by an author largely unknown before the publication of this book in 1895. Throughout the book, the main character is referred to as "the youth". For ten points name this book featuring Henry Fleming and written by Stephen Crane.
Answer: The Red Badge of Courage (Prompt on tall soldier before "tall soldier" is said and on Crane)
7) He was born in Poland in 1924 to a retail clothier and a doctor, his mother. His family emigrated to France in 1936, where he attended Lycee Rolin and Ecole Normale, both in Paris. He moved to the United States, where he attended CalTech, and from there he went to the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton where he was sponsored by John von Neumann. For ten points name this man largely responsible for the present interest in fractal geometry. He showed how fractals can occur in many different places in both mathematics and elsewhere in nature.