Beyond the answers - interesting background to this quiz

The Island That Refused to Stay Fiction

Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, published in 1719, is often described as one of the earliest English novels. Its story of a man stranded alone on an island was likely inspired by the real experiences of Alexander Selkirk, a Scottish sailor marooned on a Pacific island for several years. The book was such a success that "Robinsonade" became a term for stories about survival on a deserted island.

A Portrait Full of Puzzles

Jan van Eyck's "The Arnolfini Portrait" hangs in the National Gallery in London. Painted in 1434, it is famous for its astonishing detail, including a convex mirror on the back wall that reflects two tiny figures. Who the couple are and what the painting commemorates has been debated for generations, and no single explanation has won universal agreement.

Iodine and the Butterfly-Shaped Gland

The thyroid is a small gland in the neck that produces hormones regulating metabolism, growth and body temperature. It needs iodine to make those hormones, which is why iodine deficiency can lead to an enlarged thyroid, known as a goitre. Many countries add iodine to table salt specifically to prevent this.

From Blindness to a Nobel Prize

José Saramago, the Portuguese writer behind Blindness, won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1998. Blindness imagines a city struck by an epidemic of sudden white blindness, and it is written in a distinctive style of long sentences with minimal punctuation. Saramago only began writing seriously in his fifties, after working as a journalist and translator.

The Atom: Small but Not Indivisible

The word atom comes from the Greek atomos, meaning "uncut" or "indivisible", because ancient thinkers believed it was the smallest possible particle. We now know atoms are made of protons, neutrons and electrons, and those in turn of smaller particles still. Even so, the atom remains the basic unit that defines a chemical element.