Some of those questions did seem to be a bit obscure.

I think that a similar result would be obtained by asking similarly obscure questions in any class (e.g. literature).
I still think that it was easier to be a "Renaissance man" in Newton's time than it is today.
I often think that the only thing that held back the great geniuses of the past, was
easy access to the relevant information and high quality materials for experimentation.