Quite Quirky Quiz

Answer: Conducting - he held his chin to prevent his head from falling off

Believe it or not, Tchaikovsky had imagined his head falling off while vigorously conducting, and would hold his head with his left hand while using the baton with his right hand.

He was certainly not illiterate; he was a graduate of the St Petersburg School of Jurisprudence, and having played the piano from early childhood, he had no fear of musical instruments.

Answer: Confiscated his clothes so Hugo couldn't go outside

Apparently Hugo frequently suffered from writer's block, and found the best way around it was to make it impossible to leave the house. His valet was under strict instructions not to return his clothes until he had written a significant amount. When it was cold he wrapped himself in a blanket.

Answer: His apartment was scrupulously clean, but he was grubbily dressed

After his death, friends were shocked to discover that the always immaculately groomed Satie lived in a squalid and dirty apartment strewn with umbrellas and old newspapers, with much of the space taken up by two grand pianos stacked one atop the other, the top one used as storage.

Satie founded his own religion, the Metropolitan Church of Art of Jesus the Conductor, and was its only member.

He limited his diet solely to white foods (some of which originally were coloured, as in mouldy fruit - aghh!)

He walked 10km most days to his favourite Parisian cafés, carrying a hammer for personal protection.

Answer: He watched them consume a bowl of soup

One of the critical tests that Edison put hopeful research associates through was to place a bowl of soup in front of them. He weeded out those who automatically added salt to the soup before tasting. His theory was that people should not assume anything before checking the basics.

Answer: He believed he was a wolf, and that he was made of glass

Charles was born into turbulent times during the Hundred Years' War, inheriting a kingdom that was bankrupt and in chaos. He was well educated and qualified to rule France and might have proved to be a good king, but at the age of 23 he lost the plot. He went berserk and killed four of his companions on a hunting trip before he was forcibly restrained.

Very soon he developed the delusion that he was a wolf, which, combined with his certainty that he was made of glass and might shatter at any time, must have caused a few headaches for his attendants. Another of his delusions was that he was St George (yes, the one who killed the dragon) and wanted the family crest to illustrate that.

Regarding St Joan, she was about 10 years old when Charles died in 1422, and so had yet to gain fame.

Answer: Beans

Pythagoras, who worked out how to calculate a pretty hypotenuse, espoused a vegetarian lifestyle for health and because he believed that one life form transmuted to another after death, so effectively eating flesh of any sort was cannibalism.

His one sticking point was beans. He had a morbid fear of handling or eating any type of bean.

The legend goes that Pythagoras escaped from a home invasion and could have hidden undetected in a neighbouring bean field, but turned away, and was murdered by his assailants.

Answer: Buckminster Fuller

The genius who thought up the Geodesic Dome, Fuller also envisioned cities of the future, invented a car he originally intended to be able to fly and navigate on water, and thought up solutions to problems caused by modern living. While many of his inventions were discarded, his concepts were inspirational, and provided the basis for many advances in technology.

He never sought personal wealth and worked towards what he saw as the common good. It is a marvel that this busy man found the time and discipline to jot down his personal record at 15 minute intervals. It is said that his "Chronofiles" as he called his log, stacks 27 ft high.

Answer: He adopted a fake British accent, wore a cape and carried a cane

Edwin Hubble was a gifted athlete at college, and studied law at university. Apparently after he completed a 3 year stint at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, Hubble affected an upper-class British accent, and took to carrying a cane and wearing a cape. (There is no mention of a deer-stalker hat, unfortunately!)

Regarding the man's undoubted genius, here is a limerick composed by Alexander Rolfe:
Thanks to Edwin P. Hubble
Our static cosmology was in serious trouble--
When we saw a wavelength
Of such tiny strength,
It proved the universe was an expanding bubble.

Answer: Built a small door for his kittens, when there was already one for the cat

It's true. I couldn't find out whether Newton invented the cat flap or whether he merely had one installed for his favourite cat.

When that same cat had kittens, Newton had a smaller hole made to accommodate their exit and entry to the house. He was probably irritated to find that they preferred to use the larger hole!

Newton helped lay the foundations for modern astronomy and physics and is widely regarded as one of the foremost geniuses of all time.

While Dirac hole theory was posited in the 20th century and forms part of quantum mechanics, I made the other two wrong answers up. However, when we were treated to doughnuts as small kids, Dad advised us not to eat the holes as they would give us indigestion. He accepted the risk and ate the resultant morsel of doughnut ring which we handed over.

Answer: They wrote standing at a high desk

These are only a few of the many authors who preferred to stand while writing. Franklin declared that he had already done far too much damage to his health by sitting too long.

Churchill sometimes wrote standing, but he later made a habit of writing while reclining in bed (he had assistants on standby to record and type up the great man's work).