Invention and Inventor Quiz

The scientist who first sent electromagnetic waves to distant places was Heinrich Hertz (German physicist, 1857-1894). He applied Maxwell's theories to the production and reception of radio waves. He used a spark gap attached to an induction coil and a separate spark gap on a receiving antenna. When waves created by the sparks of the coil transmitter were picked up by the receiving antenna, sparks would jump its gap as well. Hertz showed in his experiments that these signals possessed all the properties of electromagnetic waves.

Gerhard Henrik Armauer Hansen (1841-1912) invented Leprosy bacillus in 1873. He worked on leprosy throughout his career.

Dhanvantari is the Hindu god of medicine and an avatar of Lord Mahavishnu. He is mentioned in the Puranas as the god of Ayurveda.

The electron microscope was discovered by Ernst Ruska and Max Knoll in 1931. Ernst Ruska was a German physicist and Max Knoll was a German electrical engineer.

German chemist Otto Hahn (1879-1968) invented the atom bomb in 1938. He is referred to as the father of nuclear chemistry and the godfather of nuclear fission. Hahn and Lise Meitner discovered radioactive isotopes of radium, thorium, protactinium and uranium. J. Robert Oppenheimer (1904-1967) is known as the 'father of the atomic bomb' for their role in the Manhattan Project – the World War II undertaking that developed the first nuclear weapons.

Scotland engineer John Logie Baird demonstrated the first prototype television in 1925. Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin at St. Mary's Hospital, London, in 1928. The first experimental television programme produced by the BBC was Telecast on 22 August 1932. Jonas E. Salk developed the first polio vaccine in 1955

The transistor radio was invented by the Japanese company Sony (old name Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation). For several months, the founder of Sony, Masaru Ibuka traveled around the United States borrowing ideas from the American transistor manufacturers. Improving upon the ideas, Sony made its first functional transistor radio in 1954.

The Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India was the first recorded trip directly from Europe to India, via the Cape of Good Hope. Under the command of Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama, it was undertaken during the reign of King Manuel I in 1495–1499.

Revealed Preference Theory was propounded by American economist Paul Anthony Samuelson in 1938. This theory states that consumer behaviour, if their income and the item's price are held constant, is the best indicator of their preferences.

Vinod Dham is known as the 'Father of the Pentium Chip' for his contribution to the development of Intel's Pentium microprocessor. He is an Indian engineer, entrepreneur and venture capitalist.