Maths History Quiz

1) The mathematician Pythagoras was born around 569 BC. Where did Pythagoras live? Sicily, Malta, Samos.

2) Eratosthenes of Cyrene (276 BC-197) was a Greek mathematician who worked on prime numbers and geometry. He made an accurate measurement of the circumference of the earth. Where was Cyrene? Spain, Libya, Israel.

3) Which famous mathematician was born in Sicily around 287 BC? Archimedes, Euclid, Theano.

4) Hypatia of Alexandria was the first woman to make a recorded contribution to mathematics. When was she born? 70 BC, 370 AD, 1370 AD.

5) When did Muslim scientists, mathematicians and astronomers make enormous contributions to the world's knowledge? during the time of the Pharaohs, before the European Renaissance, before the First World War.

6) Who is said to be the founder of algebra? Albert Einstein, Pythagoras, Al-Khwarizmi.

7) What do we call the numbers we use today? Arabic numbers, Roman numerals, European numbers.

8) Leonardo Fibonacci (1170-1250) is known for Fibonacci Numbers. In which city did Leonardo Fibonacci live? Pisa, Rome, Florence.

9) Leonardo da Vinci was a Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, engineer and scientist. Leonardo was also a mathematician and made discoveries in geometry. Where did he do most of his work? Florence, Paris, Venice.

10) Nicholas Copernicus, the Polish astronomer and mathematician, attended this university. Cracow, Cambridge, The Sorbonne.

11) Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) was a famous mathematician and astronomer. Where was he born? Verona, Naples, Pisa.

12) Descartes, the philosopher, scientist and mathematician, is known for his work on analytic geometry. What was his nationality? French, Italian, Algerian.

13) Pascal, the French mathematician and philosopher, has something named after him. What is it? a computer language, a style of architecture, a town in France.

14) What was the nationality of the eighteenth century mathematician Leonhard Euler? Swiss, Austrian, Swedish.

15) Albert Einstein was born in Germany but much of his work on the theory of relativity was done in another country. Where did he work? Estonia, Switzerland, Canada.

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WIZ Quiz content from World InfoZone educational website.

We would like to thank the following for the use of the photographs: Mark McLeod, University of Delaware; the Canadian Tourism Commission (Tourism New Brunswick); the South African Tourism Promotion Agency; the Finnish Tourist Board and the Saudi Arabian Embassy (London).