Cultural and Intellectual History - AP European History

Indulgences were sold throughout the medieval period in Europe by the Catholic church as a means to grant oneself forgiveness for sins or to gain forgiveness for someone who had died. The idea was the Catholic church was in charge of dispensing “merit” so that people could enter into heaven and that those who give financially to the church should benefit. They became extremely popular in 1517, when Pope Leo X sold indulgences to build a new St. Peter’s Basilica, as many people attempted to gain forgiveness. The selling of indulgences outraged Martin Luther, who mentioned them throughout his 95 Theses and fought against them as one of his main issues for reform. In 1567, the church outlawed the selling of indulgences.

The Crusades were a series of religious wars fought between Christian forces of Europe and Muslim armies of the Middle East. Most of the conflict took place over Middle Eastern territory considered sacred by both faiths. The other answers are incorrect because they refer to other historically opposing forces, several of which did not fight wars with each other.

Martin Luther wrote the 95 Theses, in which he questioned and criticized many practices of the Catholic church, including indulgences (reduction of punishment for a sin), which many church members were abusing by commercializing the process. These questions would spark change resulting in the Protestant Reformation.

Thomas Aquinas was a renowned Catholic philosopher and lived before the Reformation, so he would not be the best answer. Martin Luther King, Jr. lived far after the Protestant Reformation, so he would not be a good answer here. Henry VIII lived during the Protestant Reformation and became the head of the church of England, but he did not publish the work in question, so he would not be the best choice. Finally, Martin Luther was an important figure in the Reformation and he published the work in question, so he would be the correct answer.

The reformation was a 16th century cultural and religious upheaval that challenged the views of the Catholic Church and the Pope. At the time, the Catholic Church had enormous political and religious power. The reformers were angry about the corrupt practices of the church, such as selling indulgences (something that one pays for that reduces the amount of punishment one will have to undergo their sins) and believed that the bible, rather than the leaders of the Catholic church should be the ultimate authority. In 1517 Martin Luther nailed a list of “95 Theses” (complaints) on the door to Wittenberg Catholic Church, a document that would later become the basis of the Protestant reformation. Tensions continued to rise and bloody conflicts broke out all over Europe over different Christian sects and how to best worship god. These small wars culminated in the bloody 30 years’ war which killed somewhere between 25-40% of Germany’s population. The peace of Westphalia allowed freedom of religion for Christians, ended several land and independence disputes, and broke the political power of the Catholic Church. Many experts say that the Peace of Westphalia began the modern method of diplomacy.

John Calvin was a prominent French theologian and pastor during the fourteenth century. He preached predestination and the absolute sovereignty of God in determining the fate of souls. His beliefs were a major influence on the branch of Protestantism commonly referred to as Calvinism.

Copernicus wrote On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres in the sixteenth century, and this work was published after his death. This work described a heliocentric model of the universe, in which the sun was posited as the center of the universe, with the planets revolving around it. Copernicus's model implicitly disputed the accuracy of the prevailing scientific model, the Ptolemaic or geocentric model, in which the earth was the center of the universe. Also, note that Copernicus's model did not recognize that planetary motion was elliptical.

Alternate current was patented by Nikola Tesla, who was a former employee of Thomas Edison, the inventor of Direct current.

Copernicus concluded through observation of the stars' movements in the sky that the sun is the center of the solar system. This contradicted the contemporary dogma of the Catholic Church, which taught that the sun and other stars revolved around the Earth.

Leonardo da Vinci was the famous Renaissance artist and inventor who painted the Mona Lisa.

Isaac Newton defined the Laws of Motion that explain gravity and other phenomena.

Marie Curie was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903 for her discoveries involving radioactivity.

Louis Pasteur recognized the existence of bacteria and devised a process for destroying them in liquids (pasteurization).

Karl Popper was a 20th-century philosopher of science and he lived far after the discovery of classical mechanics, so he would not be the best choice. Copernicus proposed the heliocentric model of the solar system and he did not publish the book in question, so he would not be a good choice. Lord Kelvin famously created the temperature system that accounts for absolute zero, but he did not publish the book in question, so he would not be the best choice. DaVinci was a great inventor but he lived long before the discovery of classical mechanics, so he is not the correct answer. Lastly, Isaac Newton published the book in question and discovered classical mechanics, so he would be the best answer here.

Copernicus proposed the heliocentric model of the solar system in Europe and did not study radiation, so he would not be the best choice. Aristotle was more a philosopher than scientist and he lived far before the discovery of radiation, so he would not be a good answer. Isaac Newton discovered classical mechanics but did not work on radiation, so he would not be the best answer. Lastly, Marie Curie is recognized for performing some of the pioneering work in radiation - her lab is still too radioactive to enter unprotected - so she would be the best choice.

Bertrand Russel was a mathematician and philosopher and was not concerned with evolution, so he would not be the best choice. Watson and Crick discovered the double-helix structure of DNA, so they would not be the correct answer. Isaac Newton discovered classical mechanics, so he would not be a good choice. Albert Einstein lived after the discovery of evolution, so he would not be the best answer. Lastly, Charles Darwin famously published his book On the Origin of Species about evolution by natural selection, so he would be the best answer.

Isaac Newton discovered classical mechanics and did not work in the life sciences, so he would not be a good answer. Charles Darwin discovered evolution by natural selection, not the structure of DNA, so he would not be the best answer. Marie Curie did pioneering work in radiation, not the life sciences, so she would not be the best choice here. Finally, Crick and Watson are widely credited with the discovery of DNA's structure, so they would be the best choice.

The Amish are an American religious group and not English at all, so they would not be the best choice. The Fourth Estate is a moniker given to the free press, who do not have a historical aversion to technology, so that would not be a good answer. The Patricians were the nobility of the Roman Republic, so they would not be a good choice. The Protestants is the umbrella term given to Christians who are not Catholic, and they are not uniformly English, so that would not be the best answer. The Luddites were a group of English textile workers that smashed industrial equipment to protest the loss of jobs to automation, so they would be the best answer here.

Confucius was a Chinese philosopher concerned mainly with social structure and not science, so he would not be the best answer here. DaVinci was a great inventor and painter but he did not do much work with astronomy, so he is not a good answer. Newton worked on physics and not astronomy, so he would not be the best choice for this question. Plato was a philosopher and did not work in the sciences as we understand them, so he too would not be a good answer. Lastly, Copernicus famously proposed and was persecuted for the heliocentric model, so he would be the best answer here.

Lord Kelvin helped formulate the first and second laws of thermodynamics and correctly calculated the value of absolute zero, so he would be the best answer. Isaac Newton did his most famous work in classical mechanics and did not work with thermodynamics, so he would not be the best choice. Anders Celsius proposed the temperature scale that bears his name but he did not perform the contributions in question, so he would not be the best answer. Finally, Alan Turing is considered the father of computer science, but he did not work in thermodynamics, so he would not be the correct answer here.

Isaac Newton lived far before WWII, so he would not be a good answer for this question. Bertrand Russel was a prominent mathematician, but he did not work in computer science, so he would not be the correct answer here. Stephen Hawking was a brilliant physicist and mathematician, but he did not work in computer science, so he would not be the best choice. Alonzo Church also did important work in early computer science, however he was not a codebreaker, so he would not be the best answer. Finally, Alan Turing was a codebreaker, world-class mathematician, and he is considered one of the founders of modern computer science, so he would be the best answer.

Jonas Salk developed the polio vaccine in the 20th century, so he would not be the best choice here. Watson and Crick discovered the structure of DNA and did not work in vaccines, so they would not be a good choice. Albert Einstein was a physicist and did not work in the life sciences, so he would not be the best answer here. Rene Descartes was a philosopher and lived in the 16th century, so he would not be a good candidate. Finally, Edward Jenner did in fact introduce the smallpox vaccine in 1796, so he would be the best answer.

Louis Pasteur discovered the process - which we named pasteurization after him - so that would be the best answer. Jonas Salk created the Polio vaccine, so he would not be a good answer here. Edward Jenner discovered the smallpox vaccine, so he would not be the best choice. Isaac Newton worked in physics and not the life sciences, so he would not be a good answer. Lastly, Charles Darwin discovered the process of evolution by natural selection, so he would also not be a good answer to the question.

Richard Feynman was a famous physicist but he did not do his most important work in quantum theory nor did he create the thought experiment, so he would not be the best choice. Isaac Newton lived far before the formulation of quantum mechanics, so he would not be a good answer. Albert Einstein was a famous critic of quantum mechanics and he did not work in the field, so he would not be the best answer here. Stephen Hawking was a physicist but he did his most famous work in cosmology and he did not develop the thought experiment in question, so he would not be a correct answer here. Lastly, Erwin Schrodinger did some of the fundamental work in quantum mechanics, and his thought experiment about the cat bears his name, so he would be the best answer here.