Are you scientifically literate? Take our quiz

http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2011/1209/Are-you-scientifically-literate-Take-our-quiz/Composing-about-78-percent-of-the-air-at-sea-level-what-is-the-most-common-gas-in-the-Earth-s-atmosphere?google_editors_picks=true ^

[chessplayer]

You may have an opinion on climate change, evolution education, stem-cell research, and science funding. But do you have the facts to back up your opinion? This quiz will test your basic scientific literacy.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

“You answered 44 of 50 questions correctly for a total score of 88%.”

Wow.... A bit classical languages and a good grammer school science teacher made a big diffrence. A lot of it was general knowledge.

[MarkL]

I hang my head in shame - 36 out of 50. I found there were a bunch of questions that I didn't "know" the answer to, but went with my "gut instinct," hoping that I remembered the answers from my days in school. Interestingly enough, I also second guessed a number of those "hunches," and got nearly every one of them wrong, with the initial "hunch" being right.

Mark

[tang-soo]

78%

[rawcatslyentist]

You only had a 1 in 3 chance of getting the wrong stamp right. Unless you’re admitting to closet philatelism.

[MarkL]

One question is totally unfair. Unless you have read the novel Finnegan's Wake, you will have no idea what the correct answer is.

I just figured that the classical atomic model had been developed by the year listed, so I figured it had to be "quark."

On the other hand, I gave up on chemical engineering when I hit organic chemistry, and screwed up the CH4 question. I also found myself yelling "NO!" when I clicked on next after selecting "carbon" to have an atomic weight of 8, when I realized it was 12...

I got a 36/50.

Mark

[fhayek]

44. Not bad for an MBA.

[hinckley buzzard]

he he. Or Latin.

[MarkL]

I made an educated guess on a couple of them like the Quark question and the big bang question.

I didn't have to guess on the big bang question... I'm a fan of "The Big Bang Theory" and remembered the theme song.

Mark

[Veggie Todd]

43/50 and I’m drunk....

[Paradox]

50 out of 50. Two engineering degrees, IT professional for 20+ years, and a space geek. I do admit to not knowing 4 questions for SURE, but the educated guesses worked for me.

[JRandomFreeper]

I'll be honest... I had to count on my fingers to figure out CH4. Quadtane would have given it away. I guess that's why they use greek.

/johnny

[PubliusMM]

45 out of 50. I’ll take that; especially since it’s been 40 years since my last science classes. Still read alot, though.

[gitmo]

Similar. 43, but several were hunches and a few I should have gotten but didn’t think clearly.

[JRandomFreeper]

Unless you’re admitting to closet philatelism.

I've done lots of wrong things in my life.... But that's not one of my sins.

But I do have a BIL that's infatuated with stamps.

I just hope he washes his hands afterwards. ;)

/johnny

[redangus]

31 and I actually got the Finnegan question right.

[MarkL]

What hath past postal stamp issuage to do with literacy?

Nothing, but I do recall reading an article when I was little about how the "brontosaurus" meant "thunder lizard" and had been discredited, and the animal renamed. I was little, and little kids liked dinosaurs back then. I even had a little plastic brontosaurus from a Sinclair station.

Mark

[redangus]

I was able to get all the ones I wasn’t sure of down to two and then guessed wrong on almost all of them. Da*n.

[MarkL]

Some famous physicist, I think it might have been Rutherford, famously said... [[snip]] but in any case it isn’t physics, the only “real science” (was his dismissive implication).

I'm pretty sure it was Dr. Sheldon Cooper.

Mark

[Mmogamer]

68% missed 16.. I admit I guessed a few right heh.

[cunning_fish]

Mine is 94%. Is it good or bad? Sorry CSM, there are nothing of scientific literacy but a general knowledge to me.