Category: Social studies

Why are the phases of Venus at odds with the Ptolemaic model? Ptolemy said that the epicycles for both Venus and Mercury were centered on the Earth-Sun line, so they must always lie between us and the Sun, so would always appear as crescents in the telescope. Phases like these could only be explained if […]

Why did Mr Wickham try to elope with Georgiana? Wickham tried to convince her of his love in order to get her dowry, with the help of Mrs. She had known him all her life, so she did have an affection for him, and she convinced herself that he did love her. They planned to […]

What was the homespun movement in India? Gandhi argued that India needed to be self-sufficient and so they would not have to not rely on the British. One of way of doing this, he claimed was for Indians to make their own clothes. The push for Indians to give up buying British textiles and to […]

What were some major changes in post ww1 society? Mass conscription, on a scale never before seen, left tens of millions of soldiers to be demobilised and, somehow, re-integrated into civilian life. Millions had died violent deaths, leaving postwar societies hollowed out of young men, and millions more returned from war physically and/or psychologically damaged. […]

In what ways were socialism and communism a response to the social and economic conditions that developed in Europe during the Industrial Revolution? Both were a response to the social and economic conditions that developed in Europe because the industrial revolution brought unsafe working conditions for factory workers. In addition, the gap between the rich […]

Is the military downsizing? The military is downsizing it’s forces. Service members are being laid off in numbers we haven’t seen since the end of the Cold War era in the early and mid-90s. Benefits are also on the cutting block. We’ll start with the concern over being laid off (also called Force Shaping, or […]

Why was the immortal life of Henrietta Lacks banned? Many books are challenged for sexual content. “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot, for example, tells the story of a black woman whose cancer cells were harvested and sold without her or her family’s knowledge. The book was challenged as being pornographic. Is […]

What did France gain from the Revolutionary War? Between 1778 and 1782 the French provided supplies, arms and ammunition, uniforms, and, most importantly, troops and naval support to the beleaguered Continental Army. The French navy transported reinforcements, fought off a British fleet, and protected Washington’s forces in Virginia. What did the French want from the […]

What causes color constancy? The phenomenon of color constancy occurs when the source of illumination is not directly known. This is due to an ignorance of all possible sources of illumination. Although an object may reflect multiple sources of light into the eye, color constancy causes objective identities to remain constant. What is the importance […]

How did the Kansas-Nebraska Act result in the Civil War? The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 was a huge catalyst in sending the nation to the Civil War. This act reversed the Missouri Compromise and allowed slavery in the remainder of the original areas of the Louisiana Purchase. The balance of power shifted in the government […]