A Ton of Crap (118 page)

ANSWER KEY: b, c, d, b, b, b, c, d, d, c

HISTORY:
Civil Rights
Brown v. Board of Education
, Rosa Parks, Project C, Desegregation of the University of Alabama, The March on Washington, Civil Rights Act of 1964

LANGUAGE ARTS:
Franz Kafka
About Franz Kafka, Kafka and Existentialism, “The Metamorphosis,”
The Trial
,
The Castle
,
Amerika

MATH:
Diophantine Equations
What Are Diophantine Equations?, Examples of Diophantine Equations, Hilbert’s Tenth Problem, Linear Diophantine Equations, Exponential Diophantine Equations, General Method to Use for First-Order Equations with Two Variables

SCIENCE:
Mitosis
Prophase, Metaphase, Anaphase, Telophase, Cytokinesis, Meiosis

FOREIGN LANGUAGE:
Khoisan Languages
About Khoisan Languages, Hadza, Sandawe, Khoe, Tuu, Other Click Languages

CIVIL RIGHTS

Brown v. Board of Education
On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court announced one of the most important verdicts relating to a change in civil rights. The case revolved around Linda Brown, an African American third grader, who, in order to get to her elementary school, had to walk a mile, even though a white school was closer to her. Brown was denied access by the school principal, and the case went to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled that “separate but equal” was, in fact, not equal at all, and that segregation of public schools was unconstitutional.

FRANZ KAFKA

About Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka is considered one of the most important existentialist writer. Kafka, a Jewish man from Prague, lived from 1883 to 1924. Kafka grew up studying at German schools, which was considered the language of the elite at the time, and worked for a large insurance company. Kafka’s work often explores themes of alienation and the absurdity of life. The only work published during Kafka’s lifetime were his articles and short stories. His three novels, which are considered masterpieces, were unfinished when he died, and Kafka wished them to be destroyed. However, Kafka’s friend Max Brod did not comply with his wishes and had them published.

DIOPHANTINE EQUATIONS

What Are Diophantine Equations?
Named after Diophantus of Alexandria of the third century, Diophantine equations are equations that feature indeterminate polynomials, where variables are only allowed to be integers. In other words, the value of variables like
x
and
y
have to be whole numbers. Diophantine equations relate to algebraic surface and algebraic curves, and involve finding the values of the integers so that the equations work out correctly. Diophantus was one of the first people that introduced symbolism into algebraic formulas. While some equations have a finite solution, others have no solution at all. You’ve already seen plenty of Diophantine equations throughout this book.

MITOSIS

Prophase
If you recall from earlier, mitosis is cell division. Following interphase, which prepares the cell for division, the next step in the cycle is prophase. In prophase, the chromatin will condense and become chromosomes, which have duplicated and now have sister chromatids. The chromatids are identical to each other and are connected, forming an X. The mitotic spindle, which moves the chromosomes, is formed and set up away from the nucleus. By the end of this step, the nuclear envelope is broken down into vesicles.

KHOISAN LANGUAGES

About Khoisan Languages
The Khoisan languages do not belong to any other language families, and are indigenous to eastern and southern Africa. These are the click languages found in Africa. Several of these have become extinct, most of them are endangered, and very few have a written language. These languages feature click consonants as phonemes. Though previously believed to have been related, the Khoisan languages are in fact separate from each other; however, they are grouped together because they all feature the click consonant. The name
Khoisan
is derived from the Khoi-Khoi group found in South Africa and the San group (or Bushmen) found in Namibia.

CIVIL RIGHTS