Literature & Language
In Homer’s epic, this faithful wife unraveled her weaving each night while awaiting Odysseus.
Who is Penelope?
This physicist proposed the uncertainty principle in 1927.
Who is Werner Heisenberg?
This Russian author wrote both “The Brothers Karamazov” and “Notes from Underground.”
Who is Fyodor Dostoevsky?
This astronomical boundary marks the point beyond which nothing escapes a black hole.
What is the event horizon?
The phrase “sound and fury, signifying nothing” comes from this Shakespeare play.
What is “Macbeth”?
The Chandrasekhar limit describes the maximum stable mass of this stellar remnant.
What is a white dwarf?
This Irish author wrote “Finnegans Wake,” notorious for its multilingual wordplay.
Who is James Joyce?
The Drake Equation estimates the probable number of these in our galaxy. You might want to phone home when we finally find one.
What are communicative extraterrestrial civilizations?
This literary theory, associated with Roland Barthes, argues that a text’s meaning is created by readers rather than fixed by authorial intent.
What is reader-response theory?
This paradox asks why the night sky is dark if the universe is infinite and eternal.
What is Olbers’ paradox?