Quiz: Ancient Illustrations Showing Us the Way

Question: Which of these was a Swiss physician and naturalist who crafted the Historiae animalium, in which the first volume (released in 1551) was a generously illustrated work of 1,100 folio pages?

Answer: Conrad Gesner was a Swiss physician and naturalist who crafted the Historiae animalium, in which the first volume (released in 1551) was a generously illustrated work of 1,100 folio pages.

Question: Which of these was a Classical pharmacologist whose drawings are the earliest known botanical illustrations?

Answer: Crateuas was a Classical pharmacologist, said to have been the personal physician and pharmacologist to the king of Pontus, whose drawings are the earliest known botanical illustrations.

Question: Whose most important and detailed work was entitled The Anatomy of the Human Gravid Uterus, Exhibited in Figures (1774)?

Answer: The British physician William Hunter’s most important and detailed work was entitled The Anatomy of the Human Gravid Uterus, Exhibited in Figures (1774).

Question: Which medieval Italian mathematician wrote Liber abaci (1202; ”Book of the Abacus”), which introduced Hindu-Arabic numerals to Europe?

Answer: The medieval Italian mathematician Leonardo Fibonacci wrote Liber abaci(1202; “Book of the Abacus”), which introduced Hindu-Arabic numerals to Europe.

Question: Which Renaissance artist outlined a plan for an overall work on anatomy that would have included exact detailed illustrations of the human body and its organs?

Answer: The Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci outlined a plan for an overall work on anatomy that would have included exact detailed illustrations of the human body and its organs.

Question: Which of these was a 19th-century English writer of verse and a renowned illustrator who created 68 drawings of birds for ornithologist John Gould’s Birds of Europe volumes?

Answer: Edward Lear was a 19th-century English writer of verse and a renowned illustrator who created 68 drawings of birds for ornithologist John Gould’s Birds of Europe volumes.

Question: Which of these was a German scholar and scientist who wrote the illustrated De re metallica (1556; “On the Nature of Metals [Minerals]”) and was known as “the father of mineralogy”?

Answer: Georgius Agricola was a German scholar, scientist, and author of the illustrated De re metallica (1556; “On the Nature of Metals [Minerals]”) who was known as “the father of mineralogy.”

Question: In ancient Egypt the death god Anubis was commonly represented by which animal head on the body of a man?

Answer: In ancient Egypt the death god Anubis was commonly represented by the head of a jackal on the body of a man.

Question: Which ancient Roman author is credited with the creation of the first scientific encyclopaedia, Naturalis historia, completed in 77 CE?

Answer: Pliny the Elder is credited with the creation of the first scientific encyclopaedia, Naturalis historia, completed in 77 CE.

Question: Which of these was an English physician who was the first to recognize the full circulation of the blood in the human body, as illustrated in his work Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus (1628)?

Answer: William Harvey was an English physician who was the first to recognize the full circulation of the blood in the human body, as illustrated in his work Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus (1628).

Question: In which cave do prehistoric ochre and manganese oxide paintings show what may be arrows flying toward a horse?

Answer: Prehistoric ochre and manganese oxide paintings on the walls of the Lascaux Grotto in France show what may be arrows flying toward a horse.