Technophobia 4: Massive Quizbowl Overdose
Tossups by Caltech I've Got One Hand in My Packet (Brandon VandeBrake, Jay Catherwood, Josh DenHartog, Jason Meltzer)

  1. Like the Romans with Romulus or the Britons with Brutus, this dynasty had a founder and namesake who was said to have descended from Trojan refugees. Nothing definite is known of the founder's life, but legend claims he fought Attila the Hun at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains in 451, and that he was half man, half sea-serpent. For 10 points--identify the dynasty named for this possibly mythical king of the Salian Franks, the father of Childeric and grandfather of Clovis, reckoned as the "first race" of the kings of France.

    answer: Merovingian dynasty (accept Merovech or Meroveus, Merowich, or Merowig)

  2. Because of their unique spectral characteristics, they are often confused with quasars in preliminary surveys. Their nuclei show broad emission lines, caused by the expansion of concentrated hot gas at thousands of kilometers per second. For 10 points--identify these unusual galaxies, first identified by an American astronomer in 1944, which are extremely strong sources of infrared, radio, and X ray radiation and are characterized by their active nuclei.

    answer: Seyfert Galaxies (prompt on radio galaxies; Seyferts are usually considered a subset of radio galaxies)

  3. Leonardo Da Vinci used this unit of measurement in his work: four of them equaled a palm, and six palms a cubit. Today the unit is still sometimes used while tending bar. It was derived from the smallest Roman unit of length, the digitus, and evolved into the English nail, which equaled 3/4 inch. For 10 points--identify this ancient unit of measurement, whose name is shared with a useful body part.

    answer: finger

  4. Presented in its original preface as a newly rediscovered manuscript penned by a medieval Italian monk, it was actually written by a minor English nobleman. The idea sprang from a dream of a giant armor-clad hand at the top of the stairs in the author's imitation medieval house, Strawberry Hill. It describes how Count Manfred reacts to his son Conrad's death by desperate attempts to produce an heir, which are foiled by a giant whose disembodied limbs appear throughout the book. For 10 points--what book, perhaps the first Gothic novel, was written by Horace Walpole?

    answer: The Castle of Otranto

  5. Its inventor called it strictly a "limiting case" of no practical importance and it fell out of favor, but has experienced a controversial rebirth as an explanation for the Japanese recession. An implicit argument in favor of the aggressive use of fiscal policy, it is thought to occur when interest rates are expected to rise, causing an essentially infinite demand for money. For 10 points--what scenario in which inflationary policy fails to stimulate the economy was proposed by John Maynard Keynes?

    answer: liquidity trap.

  6. In his native language, his Christian name meant "gift of the Lord." After Jesus found him sitting by the customs house in Capernaum, this son of Alphaeus invited Jesus to a meal at his home. The Pharisees criticized Jesus for accepting his invitation, as he was a tax collector in the service of Herod Antipas. For 10 points--name this apostle, who is credited with writing the first book of the New Testament.

    answer: Matthew (accept Levi before "apostle")

  7. There are no TV cameras at this event, but with software called "Virtual Spectator" you can watch live via GPS data uploaded to the Internet. Through the first of three round robins, Switzerland's FAST 2000 is in last place, while Italy's Prada is in first place. Dennis Conner's Stars and Stripes is in the middle of the pack of--for 10 points--what contest to find an opponent for defending yachting champions New Zealand in the America's Cup?

    answer: Louis Vuitton Cup (prompt on America's Cup; accept early America's Cup Challenger Series)

  8. In this city on November 5, 1999, 2,082 oarsmen rowed 52 gilded barges to the Temple of the Dawn. Tens of thousands of spectators crowded the banks of the Chao Phyra river, and millions more watched on television, the flotilla procession which marked the opening of the birthday celebration of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, ending in--for 10 points--what capital city of Thailand?

    answer: Bangkok

  9. The author of this work described its creation in the critical essay "The Philosophy of Composition," portraying it as a work of careful planning, not artistic inspiration. The author decided that, in order to hold the reader's attention, this poem must be short. He decided that "a close circumscription of space", in this case the main character's chamber, would provide an appropriate frame for the narrative. The theme of a dead beloved woman was chosen as the most beautiful possible. Throw in a haunting refrain for emphasis and you have--for 10 points--the supposed original recipe for what poem by Edgar Allen Poe?

    answer: The Raven

  10. His parents, Arina and Vassily Ivanych, adore him despite his cynical and often biting attitude toward life. "In these days, the most useful thing we can do is repudiate," he says to his friend, Arkady Kirsanov, who at first worships him, but by the end of the novel begins to lose respect for him and his philosophy. For 10 points--identify this proponent of nihilism, the protagonist of Ivan Turgenev's Fathers and Sons.

    answer: Yevgeny Bazarov

  11. The northern terminus is Leggat, and the southern terminus is Imperial Beach. Russian Gulch State Park, Samuel P. Taylor State Park, the Ventana Wilderness, Los Padres National Forest, and Channel Islands National Park are all natural attractions, and towns like Gordia, Cambria, Nepenthe, and Carmel-by-the-Sea are popular sites for tourists along this route. For 10 points--identify this road, which also passes through major cities such as San Diego, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and San Francisco.

    answer: Highway 1 or Pacific Coast Highway

  12. He was born in Genoa in 1404, his family having been exiled from Florence. His major works of architecture include Sant'Andrea in Mantua, the facade of Santa Maria Novella in Florence, the Palazzo Rucellai in Florence, and the Tempio Malatestiano in Rimini. For 10 points--name this prototype of the Renaissance "universal man", whose most important contributions were arguably his treatises on art, in which he set forth rules of linear perspective.

    answer: Leon Battista Alberti

  13. He wrote two treatises, De temporibus and De temporum ratione, which were primarily concerned with the calculation of the date of Easter. Ancient letters, oral traditions, and his knowledge of contemporary events in Northumbria and surrounding Anglo-Saxon kingdoms formed the basis for his most famous work, which chronicled events from raids by Julius Caesar to the arrival of St. Augustine in Kent in AD 597. For 10 points--identify this monk, the author of the 731 work Historia ecclesiastica.

    answer: St. Bede the Venerable

  14. Obligations to the Monroe Doctrine, the League Covenant, self-defense, or other treaties of alliance were exempt from its dictates. First proposed by the French foreign minister in 1927 as a bilateral nonaggression pact between the US and France, it was revised by the US secretary of state and ultimately became a multilateral pact that was agreed to by nearly all the nations of the world. For 10 points--identify this 1928 agreement, also known as the Pact of Paris, that attempted to outlaw war.

    answer: Kellogg-Briand Pact

  15. He moved to Los Angeles in 1942 and began studying with Lester Horton, eventually replacing Horton upon his death in 1953. Studying under Stella Adler in New York, he founded his own company and began creating his own works. In 1965 he hired Judith Jamison, who starred in many of his most famous pieces, as well as in works by Martha Graham and other contemporary choreographers featured by his company. For 10 points--what African-American choreographer created "Revelations" and "Cry" for his American Dance Theater?

    answer: Alvin Ailey

  16. Its existence was suggested by the experiments of Stern and Gerlach, who found that a beam of silver atoms passing through a nonuniform magnetic field is split into an even number of peaks, in contradiction to contemporary quantum physics. It escaped early attention because there is no classical analog for it, but Dirac was able to derive it by making the Schroedinger equation relativistically invariant. For photons, it has magnitude one, while for electrons, it has magnitude one half. For 10 points--what is this fourth atomic quantum number?

    answer: spin or m-sub-s or s.

  17. On Friday, November 5, 1999, a 54-7 vote in favor of a Russia-sponsored resolution regarding this treaty was passed, with nearly all of the European Union nations voting with Russia. The resolution dealt with American actions that, according to Russia, "attempt to undermine or circumvent" this treaty that disallowed the large-scale systems that the United States is currently testing and planning to deploy to a site in Alaska. For 10 points--identify this 1972 treaty that bars the US and Russia from building nationwide "star wars"-like systems.

    answer: Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty or ABM Treaty

  18. Mispickel is the most common mineral from which heating causes this element to sublime, leaving ferrous sulfide. It is a steel gray, very brittle, semimetallic solid that, when heated, rapidly oxidizes producing the odor of garlic. It is useful as a dopant for semiconductors, although Albertus Magnus didn't know that when he isolated it in 1250 AD. For 10 points--identify this element, whose compounds are often used in insecticides and poisons and which has atomic number 33.

    answer: arsenic

  19. They were discovered in 1869 by a German physician, and their study led to a 1921 breakthrough and a 1923 Nobel Prize for Medicine. A normal human being has about one million of them, consisting of four types of cells, three of which produce hormones. Delta cells produce somatostatin, a hormone that regulates the metabolic system, and alpha cells produce glucagon. For ten points, what pancreatic enclaves also contain beta cells, from which Banting, Best, and MacLeod extracted insulin?

    answer: the islets of Langerhans (accept variations like islands or isles)

  20. Raised mainly by Stumpy and Kentuck, with help from local toughs like the gambler Oakhurst, this son of Cherokee Sal is usually known as just "The Kid" or "The Coyote." True to his other name, he proves a blessing, as the men stop swearing, begin washing twice a day, and plant vines and flowers around their houses. At last, however, a disastrous flood sweeps through the small mining town and drowns--for 10 points--what title character of a short story by Bret Harte?

    answer: The Luck of Roaring Camp (prompt on Tommy)

  21. This doctor from Stagirus was a member of the Asclepiads, or "sons of Asclepius." He had the prestige of being the court physician to Amyntas III of Macedonia, father of Philip II, which helped his more famous son begin his career. For 10 points--identify this Greek, now best known for being in the title of his son's philosophical work Ethics.

    answer: Nicomachus

  22. Except for relatively short missions to the Americas and to the Turkish coast, he spent most of his early career in the blockade of France. After his capture and daring escape from France, he married Barbara Wellesley, the sister of the Duke of Wellington. For 10 points--name this fictional naval hero, played on screen by Gregory Peck and Ioan Gruffudd, and created by C.S. Forester.

    answer: Horatio Hornblower

    Tiebreaker question

  23. The skies as far west as Great Britain were illuminated through the night, supposedly bright enough to read by, due to the ice and dust thrown up into the atmosphere. The site was first investigated in 1927 by Russian scientist Leonid Aleksyevich Kulik, who found splintered trees lying radially for 9 to 19 miles from the epicenter. For 10 points--identify this event, occurring on June 30, 1908 in central Siberia, in which it is believed the Earth was struck by a comet or asteroid fragment that exploded in the air with energy equivalent to 10 to 15 megatons of TNT.

    answer: Tunguska Event