Choosing Our Universe: Question & Answers [For B.A. Part I (Semester I)]

Choosing Our Universe: Question & Answers

Exercise 2; Short Answer-type Qs (20-30 words)

Q1. What idea does the chapter discuss?

Ans. The chapter throws light on logical approach to understand the origin of the universe. The laws of physics make us better understand the mystery about the universe.

Q2. Who was Bumba?

Ans. The people living in Central Africa were called Boshongo. They believed that, the god Bumba created the universe. There was nothing except darkness, water and Bumba in the beginning.

Q3.What is the joke that the authors make regarding ethanol?

Ans. The Mayans of Mexico believed that God created human beings  with the help of the white and yellow corn. Here the authors maker a joke that the scientists make ethanol from corn. But they are not able to make human beings from corn.

Q4. Why do the authors consider humans to be of recent origin?

Ans. Human race has existed for only a fraction of cosmic history. The authors believe that human race has been improving at a very fast speed. If it had been billions of years old, it would have been improved in knowledge and technology many times greater than it is now.

Q5. What do you understand by the term ‘Big Bang Theory’?

Ans. Big Bang is thought to be a big explosion emitting heat and energy. The theory of big bang helps the scientists to understand that there was nothing before it.

Exercise 3 (Long Answer Type Questions (75-100 words)

Q1. Discuss the relevance of the title ‘Discovering Our Universe’.

Ans. The title itself hints that the process of understanding the universe is in progress. The scientists have not reached yet at a logical conclusion about the origin of the universe. There are mysteries about it. However, the theory of relativity and Quantum physics have helped the scientists much in this regards. But it is not sufficient to reach a single conclusion. We still do not know about the origin of life and the origin of the earth also. So the title is relevant in this way.

Q2.  What is the ‘fiasco’ which has been discussed in the chapter?

Ans. A ‘fiasco’ means an utter failure of a plan. According to the Mayan legend. Firstly, God created human beings of mud. Then he let them dissolve.  After that, God made people from wood. They were dull.  He decided to destroy them, but they escaped into the forest. While running on the way, they had a slight change in their shape. They are the present day monkey. So the Maker’s fiasco about creating human beings  has been discussed here.

Q3. What do scriptures say about the origin of the universe?

Ans. The universe took its origin billions of years before. The scriptures also confirm this fact. According to Old Testament, God created Adam and Eve only in six days after the creation came into being. Bishop Usher believed that the origin of the world took place at nine in the morning on October 27, 4004 BC. But it is now believed that humans are the recent creation and the universe took place about 13.7 billion years ago.

Q4. What is the tone of the chapter ‘Discovering Our Universe’?

Ans. The tone of the chapter is very mild, not harsh or satirical. The author just quotes examples of some myths about the origin of the universe and creation on the earth. The authors could have made fun of those baseless legends and myths. But at one place, the tone of the chapter becomes satirical when the authors mention a joke about producing ethanol from grains and the scientists’ inability to produce human beings from grains. Thus the chapter id thought provoking. It leads us from one point to the other and clarifies the mystery about the universe.