Chapter 13 of 32 · Updated for 2026

Great British Inventors: practice questions

Ten Life in the UK test questions on Great British Inventors, each checked against the official handbook and set in the four formats the real test uses. Pick your answer, then tap Show the answer to see why.

1. One answer

   1. Which Scottish-born inventor patented the telephone in 1876?

   • AJohn Logie Baird
   • BJames Watt
   • CRobert Watson-Watt
   • DAlexander Graham Bell
   Show the answer

   D: Alexander Graham Bell

   Alexander Graham Bell, born in Edinburgh in 1847, was granted a patent for the telephone in the United States in 1876.

2. One answer

   2. Who developed the first vaccine, against smallpox?

   • ALouis Pasteur
   • BEdward Jenner
   • CJoseph Lister
   • DAlexander Fleming
   Show the answer

   B: Edward Jenner

   Edward Jenner, an English country doctor, developed the first vaccine by using material from cowpox to protect people against smallpox.

3. True or false

   3. Is the statement below TRUE or FALSE?

   Charles II was interested in science, and the Royal Society was formed during his reign.

   • ATrue
   • BFalse
   Show the answer

   A: True

   The Royal Society, formed under Charles II, is the oldest surviving scientific society in the world.

4. One answer

   4. Who developed radar, first successfully tested in 1935?

   • ASir Frank Whittle
   • BSir Bernard Lovell
   • CSir Christopher Cockerell
   • DSir Robert Watson-Watt
   Show the answer

   D: Sir Robert Watson-Watt

   Scotsman Sir Robert Watson-Watt proposed that enemy aircraft could be detected by radio waves. The first successful radar test took place in 1935.

5. Choose TWO answers

   5. Which TWO were early members of the Royal Society?

   • AWilliam Shakespeare
   • BRichard Arkwright
   • CSir Edmund Halley
   • DSir Isaac Newton
   Show the answer

   C: Sir Edmund Halley
   D: Sir Isaac Newton

   Halley and Newton were early members. Shakespeare died before it was formed and Arkwright came later.

6. One answer

   6. Who invented the cash-dispensing ATM, or 'cashpoint', in the 1960s?

   • AJames Goodfellow
   • BSir Tim Berners-Lee
   • CSir Christopher Cockerell
   • DAlan Turing
   Show the answer

   A: James Goodfellow

   James Goodfellow invented the ATM; the first was put into use by Barclays Bank in Enfield, north London, in 1967.

7. Which statement is correct

   7. Which of these statements is correct?

   • ANewton's most famous work showed how gravity applied to the whole universe.
   • BNewton's most famous work showed how steam could be used to power machinery.
   Show the answer

   A: Newton's most famous work showed how gravity applied to the whole universe.

   Principia Mathematica explained gravity across the universe. Steam power is linked to James Watt.

8. One answer

   8. According to the handbook, what was special about Concorde, developed in the 1960s?

   • AIt was the world's only supersonic passenger airliner
   • BIt was the first jet-powered passenger airliner
   • CIt was the largest passenger airliner ever built
   • DIt could take off and land vertically
   Show the answer

   A: It was the world's only supersonic passenger airliner

   The handbook says Britain and France developed Concorde, the world's only supersonic passenger aircraft, meaning it flew faster than the speed of sound.

9. True or false

   9. Is the statement below TRUE or FALSE?

   The Harrier jump jet, an aircraft able to take off vertically, was designed and developed in the UK.

   • ATrue
   • BFalse
   Show the answer

   A: True

   The Harrier jump jet was a British design that could take off vertically.

10. One answer

    10. What nationality was Francis Crick, who shared the Nobel Prize for discovering the structure of DNA?

    • AAmerican
    • BBritish
    • CAustralian
    • DCanadian
    Show the answer

    B: British

    Francis Crick was British. He was one of those awarded the Nobel Prize for the DNA discovery.

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