Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Happy Darwin Day!

Today is the 204th birthday of Charles Darwin, one of the greatest scientists of all time, and the person who contributed most to our understanding of human origins.

Think you know a lot about Darwin? Then, without using Google try this Darwin trivia quiz and report your score. You can answer in the comments, but all comments will be held for 24 hours today.

  1. Who was the naturalist on board the Beagle?
  2. What other famous person was born the same day as Darwin?
  3. What denomination of UK currency has a picture of Darwin?
  4. What common household item is associated with Darwin's wife?
  5. What is the correct full title of Darwin's 1859 book? (Even Dawkins got it wrong recently.)
  6. What is the name of Darwin's house in Kent?
  7. Name a single species named after Darwin.
  8. What occupation did Darwin originally plan to pursue?
  9. What, as a young man, did Darwin spend his time collecting?
  10. Where is the largest city named after Darwin located?

6 comments:

Steve Watson said...


1: Some other dude ;-) (Well, you said: no Google)
2: Abe Lincoln.
3: 10 pound note.
4: ?
5: On the Origin of Species: The Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle For Life
6: Downe House.
7: ?
8: Medicine.
9: Beetles.
10: Australia.

Harriet said...

Who was the naturalist on board the Beagle?

Charles Darwin

What other famous person was born the same day as Darwin?

Abraham Lincoln.

What denomination of UK currency has a picture of Darwin?
What common household item is associated with Darwin's wife?
What is the correct full title of Darwin's 1859 book? (Even Dawkins got it wrong recently.)

On the Origin of Species ...favoured races...ok, I forget..

What is the name of Darwin's house in Kent?
Name a single species named after Darwin.

Darwin's frog (has a leaf shaped head)

What occupation did Darwin originally plan to pursue?

Ministry

What, as a young man, did Darwin spend his time collecting?

Beetles

Where is the largest city named after Darwin located?

Alan Conwell said...

Who was the naturalist on board the Beagle?
He was!
What other famous person was born the same day as Darwin?
Lincoln
What denomination of UK currency has a picture of Darwin?
10 pound note (?)
What common household item is associated with Darwin's wife?
China tableware (as wedgewood
What is the correct full title of Darwin's 1859 book? (Even Dawkins got it wrong recently.)
On the Origin of Species: The preservation of favoured races ... (uh...)
What is the name of Darwin's house in Kent?
Down House
Name a single species named after Darwin.
What occupation did Darwin originally plan to pursue?
Trained in medicine, switched to the ministry after the horror of surgery of the day
What, as a young man, did Darwin spend his time collecting?
Insects, esp. beetles
Where is the largest city named after Darwin located?
Australia

Anonymous said...

Wikipedia has an article "Darwini", which gives pointers to lists of binomials with specific name "darwini" (grouped by initial letter of generic name), there being so many such species.

Sedgwick said...

Happy birthday, Charles.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vF43yFFZ_o

Gerry Myerson said...

11. How did Darwin define a mathematician?

Answer: he probably didn't, but this is widely attributed to him: "A mathematician is a blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat which isn't there."

I don't know why Darwin would say such a thing, and http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charles_Darwin confirms that the attribution is incorrect.