LSAT 113 | Section 1 | Reading Comprehension: Q9

RC Question 9 Explanation

DISCUSSION: The passage’s point in paragraphs 2-4 is that current critics forget that it wasn’t always obvious how the atom worked. They also forget how important Curie’s discoveries were.

___________

1. The passage doesn’t mention any obstacles. 
2. The passage said quantum mechanics explained radiation. But that doesn’t mean knowledge of radiation was necessary for the discovery of quantum mechanics. 
3. The critics might know what physicists believed. But they don’t realize that the physicists’ opinions were reasonable at the time, even though they were wrong in the end. It’s important to know the facts, but context can be even more important.
4. CORRECT. Curie and many other intelligent physicists had a flawed conception of the atom. This doesn’t make them idiots; there was good reason to believe in an indivisible atom until quantum mechanics came along. Further, the critics ignore the importance of Curie’s discoveries, such as radium. 
5. The critics might understand the reasoning, but think that Curie’s discoveries were nonetheless unimportant.