The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1930-07-31
40 'HOPEFULS
WRESTLE WITH
EDIsON'S QUIZ
Brightest Boy Of 1890 to
Be Selected Following
Examination Today.
COMMON SENSE TESTED
Ethics, Chemistry, Physics
and Mathematics Form
Question Bases.
BY PAUL w. WHITE
United Press star CorreSpondent

WEST ORANGE, N. j., July 81.
-Forty-nine youths, hopeful of
winning the title of Thomas A. Edi-
sons brightest boy of 1880, sat
down today to puzzle over an ex-
animation that carried them from
Egyptian deserts to Manchurian
kitchens, from Tamerlane to Henry
Ford, and from Avogrados hypo-
thesis to the co-effcient of micro
farad.
This examination was something
more than a test Of knowledge OF
mathematical and chemical formu-
lac; it was test Of common sense
and ethics. For example, after the
boys had spent two hours and
half OIL purely scientific questions,
they found themselves faced with
this nice problem Of human be-
havior:
You are the head of an expedi4
ton which has come to grief in the
desert. There is enough food and
water left to enable three people to
get to the nearest outpost of civili-
zs ton. The rest must perish.
Who Should Die?
Your companions are: A brilliant
scientist, so years old; two half
breed guides, So and 80; the scien-
lists wife, interested mainly in So
ciety manners, age 80; her little
son, age s; the girl you are en-
gagged to marry; your best friend,
a young man of your own age, who
has shown great promise in the
field of science.
(Which would you choose to live
and which to die? Give your rea-
sons. The examination was divided
in four parts. The most lengthy be-
ing confined to questions in chem
istry, mathematics and physics.
estate Avogrado's hypothesis and
show how it is used by chemists
in determination of molecular
weight" was the first of six ques-
tions relating to chemistry. The
boys must answer five out of the
six.
Quizzed in Math
A typical mathematical question
was the following:
1.-THE base of a pyramid is a
square, each side of which Is twelve.
inches long. Each of the other
edges is twenty inches. Find the
altitude and volume of the pyra-
mid"
In physics, among other things,
the boys were asked to define the
coefficient of friction, of dyne, and
of micro-farad.
The so-called "hunanities" en-
tered largely into the second section
Of the test, the first question bidding
the boys solemnly to say when you
look back on your life from your
deathbed, by what facts will you de-
tern1ine whether you have succeeded
or failed?"
The rather delicate question about
the stranded desert party followed,
and after that the question:
I'm the year 1900, how would you
have gotten the first cable of g. sus-
pension bridge~across an impossible
gorge one-haf mile wide?"
Communism Touch On
The final question of Part asked
the boys to state briefly "how you
think Communistic propaganda
should be dealt with
Part 4, the concluding section of
the quiz, dealt with history and
current events. 1t asked for APP
proximate dates on the battle of
Gettysburg and the reign of Solo
mon, not to mention the probable
birthday Of one or two of the dawn
of-history men like Pithecanthropus
and Eoanthropus.
Edison also sought to gain some
knowledge of the boys ideas of
valueS-and ethics-in the following
question:
IF you owned the following items,
set down the approximate price in
dollars and cents for which you
would sell them, and the sort of
purchaser you would select:
"(a) Ford coupe which has run
5000 miles.
"Cb) Basic patent which will re-
duce cost of manufacturing shoes
20 cents pair.
"(c) Secret process of manufac-
turing a drug which definitely will
cure cancer.
I'D Ten acres of land in a good
farming section of Iowa.
"(e) Trade information which will
enable one competitive firm TO take
100000 worth of net profits away
from another.
80 The secret of a new poison
gas which will make any nation SUI
preme in war"