Question for Sept. 30, 2009

The name of this scientific field was coined by Hungarian physicist Nicholas Kurti and French physical chemist Hervé This.
This science is not new. Several 18th century chemists (mainly French) were interested in this field. Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier is perhaps the most famous among them—in 1783, he studied the processes of stock preparation by measuring density to evaluate quality. In reporting the results of his experiments, Lavoisier wrote, "Whenever one considers the most familiar objects, the simplest things, it's impossible not to be surprised to see how our ideas are vague and uncertain, and how, as a consequence, it is important to fix them by experiments and facts".
Another important figure was Benjamin Thompson, later knighted Count Rumford, who studied this field and made many proposals and inventions to improve them, for example by inventing a special coffee pot for better brewing.

Reader Question

This question is courtesy Kavita and Anuj.

1,2 and 3 are hints for three movies by the same director. Idenity the three movies and the director.

What's the word

The arabic word is derived from a Sanskrit word, which means four arms. In Persian folk etymology the word is at times decomposed in such a way that it means hundred worries.

The word and what it refers to (say Z) travelled Asia, Africa and Europe. The currently famous and most known version of Z is its English version. What Z is called in English has it roots in a French word which derives from the Arabic word "shah".

What is the word? What is Z? Any guesses on what the four arms are?

Question for Monday, September 28, 2009

Sorry for the delay. Here's today's question:

The following people have appeared on a popular show, X. The list is not exhaustive, is non-chronological and has other members as well. Identify the show, X, in question.

-Pratik

Question for Sep 27 - PS

Connect the following places:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Question for Sep 25

In January 1952, a 23 year old medical student (X) and his 29 year old biochemist friend embarked on a journey (see visual) on the back of La Poderosa ("The Mighty One"). This journey would transform the life of X.

Here are some quotes relating to that journey and X.

A historian
"His political and social awakening has very much to do with this face-to-face contact with poverty, exploitation, illness, and suffering"

The biochemist friend
"I got the impression that X was saying goodbye to institutional medicine and becoming a doctor of the people."

X himself
"I knew that when the great guiding spirit cleaves humanity into two antagonistic halves, I will be with the people."

Identify X.

Quiz question for September 24th

This was a very controversial statement in its time:

"Christianity will go.. It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue with that; I'm right and I will be proved right. ____________; I don't know which will go first — rock and roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right, but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It's them twisting it that ruins it for me.".

Who said it and what are the missing words? Please mention in the comments if you figure this out *without* using Google :).