Science and Technology 600 CE to 1450

Help Questions

AP World History: Modern › Science and Technology 600 CE to 1450

Questions 1 - 10
1

Ibn Sina is most notable for __________.

his contributions to medicine and philosophy

his contributions to algebra and engineering

his contributions to political theory

establishing the Islamic territory of Al-Andalus in Spain

conquering the Mamluk Sultanate on behalf of the Ottoman Empire

Explanation

Ibn Sina, sometimes also called Avicenna, lived during the Islamic Golden Age of the tenth and eleventh centuries. He is most notable for his contributions to medicine and philosophy, particularly for authoring The Book of Healing and The Canon of Medicine, which were widely influential in Arab and European society for several centuries.

2

After the collapse of the Western Roman Empire much of Europe's knowledge was destroyed; for example, domed buildings weren't built again until ____________.

the Italian Renaissance

the Age of Sail

Cortez's invasion of Mesoamerica

William the Conqueror invaded the British Isles

the unification of Germany

Explanation

The first domed building to be built in Europe since the collapse of the Roman Empire was the Florence Cathedral, built by Filippo Brunelleschi during the Italian Renaissance. The Italian Renaissance was a period of rediscovery for European intellectuals, including ancient architectural techniques. The Age of Sail, in which millions of Europeans migrated to the Americas, Cortez's invasion of Mesoamerica, the unification of Germany, and William the Conquerors invasion of Britain had dramatic effects on Europeans and their knowledge of the world, but did not lead to the ability to build domed structures.

3

Muhammad al-Khwarizmi is most notable for __________.

his contributions to the development of algebra

his extensive travels around the Islamic world

leading the Moor conquest of the Iberian peninsula

his contributions to chemistry and alchemy

developing the silk industry in the Middle East

Explanation

Muhammad al-Khwarizmi is most notable for his contributions to the development of algebra. He lived in the eighth and ninth centuries, during the Islamic Golden Age of the Abbasid Caliphate. Along with the ancient Greek, Diophantus, he is often credited as “the founder of algebra.”

4

By the 15th century, European armies ____________________.

were using firearms alongside bows and crossbows

were using firearms in lieu of bows and crossbows

were using firearms as their primary weapon of war

were using firearms in decreasing numbers

only allowed the king himself to use firearms

Explanation

In the 15th century, firearms were used on many medieval battlefields, but only by a small proportion of troops because they were expensive, ineffective, and potentially dangerous to the user; bows and crossbows existed alongside firearms for centuries.

Firearms numbers decreased as the technology became more lethal.

Firearm usage was never a monarch's personal prerogative.

5

Select the most popular reason for the spread of the Black Death, according to most Europeans at the time.

Toxins in the atmosphere

Earthquakes and/or volcanic eruptions

Personal and/or societal immortality

A Jewish conspiracy to create and spread the disease

Explanation

Due to the era’s complete and total lack of anything approaching modern medical knowledge, the majority of Europeans, from nobles and the clergy down to shopkeepers, merchants, and peasants, had no factual idea about the plague’s true cause. Even worse, this lack of understanding extended to the ways in which the disease was spread; even physicians, who lacked knowledge of germs or proper hygiene, could only guess as to how the plague was transferred from person to person. This vast state of confusion only compounded Europe’s fear and panic over the rising sick rate and death toll, as one by one, large population centers found themselves transformed into hotbeds of illness. Desperately seeking any sort of explanation for the disease’s devastation, many people turned to superstitions, extreme religious beliefs, ethnic discrimination, or misguided scientific notions about the natural environment. By far the most popular explanation was that of nameless toxins in the atmosphere – most Europeans believed that unhealthy air was somehow to blame for the plague’s swift spread, although speculation as to the exact makeup of these airborne toxins was varied and essentially baseless. Other individuals blamed earthquakes or volcanic eruptions, which they saw as natural incubators of sickness and disease. Still others turned to religion, speaking out against immorality (such as sexual promiscuity, poor church attendance, and greed) as the instigating factor which had caused God to send down the Black Death as punishment. Due to a pervasive cultural tide of anti-Semitism, many people targeted Jewish citizens as spreaders of the disease as well, but this persecution was more general in nature, and not as particular in its nature as the answer option provided, it was also not as widespread a notion, particular to the plague, as the correct answer option provided.

6

Junks, were __________.

massive ships of classical Chinese origin

scholar bureaucrats in the Chinese imperial system

translators who used to travel with trading caravans on the Silk Road

walls and barricades established to protect Chinese merchants from raiders

religious dissidents in China during the Song Dynasty

Explanation

Junks are sailing ships that were first invented in China during the classical period. Junks came to be popular during the productive years of the Song Dynasty and were used extensively for Chinese voyages in southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean.

7

Although precise definitions are sometimes difficult to assign, in general, hand cannons differ from arquebuses and muskets because they typically _________________.

lack trigger mechanisms

cannot be used if the powder gets wet

were so heavy that they were always held by multiple people

were only ever used in China

use percussion caps

Explanation

Hand cannons are the earliest types of handheld firearms and tend to lack both triggers and stocks; a burning torch would be applied, often by a different person than the one holding the cannon, to a hole bored in the cannon and lined with powder leading down into the barrel of the weapon where packed powder was ignited, pushing forward a projectile with enormous speed. Although over centuries, and from workshops as diverse as Medieval Switzerland, Sinkoku Japan, and Lincoln's United States, arquebuses and muskets were constructed with different attributes, in general all arquebuses and muskets have trigger mechanisms.

Wet gunpowder won't light, regardless the weapon system.

Hand cannons could be held by a single person.

Hand cannon technology was used all over the world, including but not limited to the Middle East and Europe.

Percussion cap technology occurred at the end of muskets being used by professional armies, long after hand cannons and arquebuses became obsolete.

8

In what century was gunpowder first introduced to Europe?

Thirteenth

Fourteenth

Fifteenth

Sixteenth

Seventeenth

Explanation

Gunpowder was invented in China in the ninth or tenth centuries, during the Song Dynasty, and was first introduced to Europe by the thirteenth century. Most historians believe that gunpowder was introduced to the Europeans by the forces of the Mongol empire at some point in the mid-thirteenth century. Gunpowder, and the introduction of firearm technology, would transform European society.

9

Gunpowder was invented in _____________.

China

The United States

Europe

India

The Middle East

Explanation

Gunpowder was invented in China.

Within a few hundred years it had spread all the way through Asia, including India and the Middle East.

When European nations invaded, conquered, and colonized the Americas, gunpowder was a staple of their arsenal.

10

Gunpowder was invented in __________.

China

Russia

India

Germany

Italy

Explanation

Gunpowder was invented in China in the ninth or tenth century. The discovery of gunpowder led to the invention of fireworks and to the invention of firearms. Eventually gunpowder would transform the military and societies of almost everywhere in the world.

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