Final Jeopardy: Scientists (9-26-25)
The Final Jeopardy question (9/26/2025) in the category “Scientists” was:
Joseph Lister said there was not “an individual to whom medical science owes more than to” this man, feted at the Sorbonne in 1892
New champ Vickie Talvola, a quantitative trader from Jersey City, NJ, won $26,407 yesterday in runaway fashion. In Game 2, she competes with: Yasmine Mitchell, a software engineer from Sunnyvale, CA; and Prasad Patil, an asst. professor of biostatistics from Burlington, MA.
Round 1 Categories: The Western Hemisphere – Worn on the Street – Movie Role in Common – Which -verse Are We in? – History – 1-“S”yllable Words
Vickie found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Which -verse Are We In?” under the $800 clue on the 15th pick of the round. She was in the lead with $3,600, $1,800 more than Yasmine in second place. Vickie bet $3,600 and she was RIGHT.
Unable to serve in the military due to poor eyesight, he glorified American warriors in the Ryanverse show
Vickie finished in the lead with $9,800. Prasad was in second place with $4,000 and Yasmine was last with $3,200. All clues were shown.
Round 2 Categories: Archaeologist’s Glossary – TV Shows by Family – Cover Me – Alliteration – Lonely Island – I’m on a Boat
Vickie found the first Daily Double in “Lonely Island” under the $2,000 clue on the 13th pick of the round. She was in the lead with $15,000, $3,000 more than Prasad in second place. Vickie bet $6,000 and she was RIGHT.
Now lightly populated, Delos in the Cyclades was once a hub of activity & also the supposed birthplace of this god show
Prasad got the last Daily Double in “Cover Me” under the $800 clue with 8 clues left after it. In second place with $14,800, he had $9,400 less than Vickie’s lead. Prasad bet $10,000 and he was RIGHT.
Built in the 1st c., it had a big retractable awning, called a velarium, that shielded its audience of 50,000 from the sun show
Vickie finished in the lead with $25,800 in a heckuva close call! Prasad was second with $25,600 and Yasmine was last with $7,600. All clues were shown.
ALL of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHO IS LOUIS PASTEUR?
Joseph Lister, “the father of antiseptic surgery”, was an honorable man who gave full credit to Louis Pasteur, “the father of bacteriology”, for inspiring Lister’s work on the germ theory of putrefaction. 18 years before the Sorbonne honored Pasteur on his 70th birthday, Lister wrote to the French scientist to express his gratitude. That 2/10/1874 letter is now in the Smithsonian.
The friendship that developed between the 2 pioneers must have been well-known in the scientific and medical communities. The moment that Joseph Lister approached Pasteur at the 1892 Sorbonne celebration was immortalized in a painting by Jean-André Rixens. Pasteur, weak from illness, is holding the arm of French president Sadi Carnot.
Yasmine bet $5,000 and finished with $12,600.
Prasad bet $10,000 and finished with $35,600.
Vickie bet $150 and finished with $25,950. That handed the game to Prasad Patil, and he is the new Jeopardy! champ. Oh, Vickie, we hardly knew ye!
2 triple stumpers from the last round:
ALLITERATION ($400) Are you old enough to remember this bibliography in drawers at your local library?
I’M ON A BOAT ($2000) Michael Healy, a black ship captain in the 1800s for the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service, is one historical figure in “Alaska” by this man
2 years ago: NONE of the players got this FJ in “U.S. SENATE HISTORY”
In 1805, after 4 years presiding over the Senate, he left the chamber, calling it “a sanctuary; a citadel of law, of order” show
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Great battle, even the middle contestant was decent. I knew Final immediately, turned to my son and said, “They’re all going to know it, and one of them will win over $51000.” What a downer their wagers turned out to be.
“Ryanverse” temporarily confused me, otherwise I’d have known who created Jack Ryan. 2nd DD I had 2 choices and picked the wrong one. Last DD kinda obvious.
Knew the South American populous city; guessed the leader with the Steppes and what the tumulus covers. Should have known the alliterative library item, but never thought of it as a bibliography.
I predicted everyone would get this, too. Howard. I said (on Spoiler Talk) “I don’t see who else they could think it is except for who it is.” And, just because of that, I didn’t second guess my prediction.
2/3 on DD and got FJ. Honestly, what other French 19th century scientists can you name?
I got hung up on the Clancy DD; I just could not remember his name. Back in college, around 1990, Tom Clancy visited the Institute, along with Harold Coyle, Stephen Coonts, and Bill Butterworth, who wrote under the name W.E.B. Griffin.
Got the tumulus and the ship captain TS.
Well this game was the best game played this season with two players with over 25,000 heading into Final. Vickie made a reasonable and defensible wager. She didn’t seemed so confident on the FJ! category and was hoping that Prasad would get a difficult Final and her small bet handed the game to Prasad. There were 10 lead changes in this game and it was a back and forth battle between Vickie and Prasad at the end.
I don’t know how you figure that bet was reasonable or defensible, Kevin. I’m no expert on betting, but let’s see… She has $25,800. 2nd place with $25,600 can double up to $51,200. Only a $25,401 bet can prevent Prasad from winning and she really had no reason to think he would be weak in the FJ! category.
Idk what she was thinking but it cost her an over $50K payday!