Q 01/05

In a famous 1683 report, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek described bacteria darting about in a sample of what?

A) Soured milk

B) Stagnant pond water

C) Dental plaque

D) Rotting fruit

Answer · why

C) Dental plaque

Dental plaque scraped from his own mouth teemed with life, he told the Royal Society. Two old men who had never cleaned their teeth gave him even live...

Q 02/05

Antonie van Leeuwenhoek opened his own shop in 1654 in which trade, far from any university?

A) Cloth merchant

B) Spice and tea dealer

C) Bookseller

D) Diamond cutter

Answer · why

A) Cloth merchant

Cloth merchant, or draper, was his trade. He had no degree, no scientific training and knew no language but Dutch, yet became a Fellow of the Royal So...

Q 03/05

Which visiting ruler received Antonie van Leeuwenhoek on his boat and was given an eel-viewing microscope?

A) Augustus the Strong

B) Christian V of Denmark

C) Frederick I of Prussia

D) Peter the Great

Answer · why

D) Peter the Great

Peter the Great could use his new 'eel-viewer' to watch blood circulate whenever he wanted. Other callers over the years ranged from philosophers to E...

Q 04/05

Antonie van Leeuwenhoek was made trustee of the bankrupt estate of which painter, born in his city the same year?

A) Rembrandt van Rijn

B) Johannes Vermeer

C) Frans Hals

D) Jan Steen

Answer · why

B) Johannes Vermeer

Johannes Vermeer was baptised in the same town within days of him, and the two lived close to the main market. Whether they were friends is still a ma...

Q 05/05

What did Antonie van Leeuwenhoek say he rubbed on his teeth every morning to keep them sound?

A) Salt

B) Chalk

C) Vinegar

D) Charcoal

Answer · why

A) Salt

Salt every morning was his habit, he wrote at fifty, and he credited it for his well-preserved teeth. After meals he also used a toothpick and rubbed ...