Why’s a scientist called a scientist, and how did Romans do multiplication?

We explore the curious questions that science can answer

The word ‘scientist’ was first used a couple of hundred years ago (Getty)

Why is a scientist called a scientist?

The word comes from the Latin scire, which means “to know”. A scientist is thus one who knows or learns. Before the word was first used, a couple of hundred years ago, scientists used to be called natural philosophers. “Philosophy” comes from the Greek words for “lover of true knowledge”.

How did Pascal measure atmospheric pressure with a 40ft glass tube full of wine?

Barometers can be made using any liquid. Imagine a long tube almost filled with water. Turn the tube upside down and put the open end in a bucket of water. The weight of the atmosphere on the water in the bucket pushes against the water in the tube and stops it coming out. The lower the atmospheric pressure, the more water will flow out of the tube, causing the level of water in it to drop. Conversely, high pressure will force the level up. Barometers are usually made of mercury because it is so dense – 76cm of mercury in a thin tube can typically be supported by an average atmospheric pressure. Pascal showed that the same atmospheric pressure, which most people were unaware of until then, could support 40ft of wine in a tube.

Why are modern British copper coins (1p and 2p pieces) magnetic, while old ones are not?

In 1992, the metal used to make coppers was changed from bronze to copper-plated steel. This makes them magnetic.

Who invented ball bearings?

The idea of using balls as anti-friction devices was first suggested by Leonardo da Vinci in the 16th century, but, as with many of da Vinci’s ideas, it wasn’t put to use for a long time. In 1794, Philip Vaughn from Carmarthen got the first patent on a bearing which resembled modern ball bearings; but it wasn’t until steel became economically available in the late 19th century that steel ball bearings, like those we use now, became popular.

How big is the Great Pyramid in Egypt?

The Pyramid of Cheops, also known as the Great Pyramid, is 147m high, with sides 230.4m long.

What were the first words spoken on a telephone?

They were: “Come here Watson, I want you,” and they were spoken by Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone, on 10 March 1876.

How did the Romans do multiplication? Instead of 103 times 22 – would they have had to manipulate CIII x XXII?

The answer is, with great difficulty. Instead of calculating with pencil and paper, they would have used an abacus to actually do the calculations, and then written the answer in Roman numerals. Division would have been even harder – involving breaking the calculation into a number of operations like those we now use in long division.

You might wonder why they didn’t develop a positional number system like ours: the answer is probably because they didn’t have a symbol for “zero” (try doing maths without it) which was introduced later, by the Arabs.