The Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets

by Simon Singh

Overview

The brainy book by the bestselling author of Fermat's Enigma-a must for anyone interested in numbers and mathematics, as well as for the millions of Simpsons fans worldwide.

“Simon Singh's excellent book blows the lid off a decades-long conspiracy to secretly educate cartoon viewers.” ?David X. Cohen, writer for The Simpsons and Futurama

You may have watched hundreds of episodes of The Simpsons (and its sister show Futurama) without ever realizing that cleverly embedded in many plots are subtle references to mathematics, ranging from well-known equations to cutting-edge theorems and conjectures. That they exist, Simon Singh reveals, underscores the brilliance of the shows' writers, many of whom have advanced degrees in mathematics in addition to their unparalleled sense of humor.

While recounting memorable episodes such as “Bart the Genius” and “Homer3,” Singh weaves in mathematical stories that explore everything from p to Mersenne primes, Euler's equation to the unsolved riddle of P v. NP; from perfect numbers to narcissistic numbers, infinity to even bigger infinities, and much more. Along the way, Singh meets members of The Simpsons' brilliant writing team-among them David X. Cohen, Al Jean, Jeff Westbrook, and Mike Reiss-whose love of arcane mathematics becomes clear as they reveal the stories behind the episodes.

With wit and clarity, displaying a true fan's zeal, and replete with images from the shows, photographs of the writers, and diagrams and proofs, The Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets offers an entirely new insight into the most successful show in television history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781620402795
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	10/29/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
File size:	20 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Simon Singh grew up in Wellington, Somerset, and completed a in particle physics at Cambridge University and at CERN, Geneva after studying physics at Imperial College London. He is an author and journalist, specializing in science and mathematics. He is the author of Trick or Treatment? Alternative Medicine on Trial, which he co-authored with Edzard Ernst, the world's first professor of complementary medicine. He is also the author of Big Bang, a history of cosmology. He made a BBC documentary about Fermat's Last Theorem published a book on the subject – the first mathematical book to be a UK No.1 bestseller. His other book, The Code Book, is a history of codes and code breaking from Ancient Egypt to the Internet. Singh lives in London.
Simon Singh received his PhD in particle physics from the University of Cambridge. A former BBC producer and BAFTA Award-winning documentary director, he is the author of the bestselling Fermat's Last Theorem. His bestseller The Code Book was the basis for the BBC series The Science of Secrecy and his third book, Big Bang, was also a bestseller. He lives in London.

Table of Contents

Chapter 0 The Truth About the Simpsons 1

Chapter 1 Bart the Genius 5

Chapter 2 Are You Π-Curious? 17

Chapter 3 Homer's Last Theorem 26

Chapter 4 The Puzzle of Mathematical Humor 38

Examination I 51

Chapter 5 Six Degrees of Separation 54

Chapter 6 Lisa Simpson, Queen of States and Bats 63

Chapter 7 Galgebra and Galgorithms 78

Examination II 88

Chapter 8 A Prime-Time Show 90

Chapter 9 To Infinity and Beyond 104

Chapter 10 The Scarecrow Theorem 114

Examination III 126

Chapter 11 Freeze-Frame Mathematics 128

Chapter 12 Another Slice of π 140

Chapter 13 Homer³ 151

Examination IV 162

Chapter 14 The Birth of Futurama 166

Chapter 15 1,729 and a Romantic Incident 180

Chapter 16 A One-Sided Story 193

Chapter 17 The Futurama Theorem 203

Examination V 214

Epilogue 217

Appendix 1 The Sabermetrics Approach in Soccer 221

Appendix 2 Making Sense of Euler's Equation 223

Appendix 3 Dr. Keeler's Recipe for the Sum of Squares 225

Appendix 4 Fractals and Fractional Dimensions 227

Appendix 5 Keeler's Theorem 229

Acknowledgments 231

Online Resources 235

Picture Credits 237

Index 239

Editorial Reviews

Simon Singh's excellent book blows the lid off a decades-long conspiracy to secretly educate cartoon viewers.” —David X. Cohen, writer for The Simpsons and Futurama.

“Plenty of solid, vest-pocket profiles of both the show's writers and great mathematicians of the past...A fun trip with the 'ultimate TV vehicle for pop culture mathematics.'” —Kirkus Reviews

“It's hard to imagine a grander, more thrilling story...fast-paced...hugely entertaining...Big Bang is, quite literally, cosmic.” —New York Times on BIG BANG

“Singh spins tales of cryptic intrigue in every chapter.” —Wall Street Journal on THE CODE BOOK

“A gripping account of . . . this centuries-long drama of ingenious failures, crushed hopes, fatal duels, and suicides.” —Jim Holt on FERMAT'S ENIGMA, The Wall Street Journal

“An excellent account of one of the most dramatic and moving events of the century.” —Sir Roger Penrose on FERMAT'S ENIGMA, New York Times Book Review, Sir Roger Penrose on FERMAT'S ENIGMA

“There's no better account of the big bang theory than this.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review for BIG BANG

“Entertaining and satisfying. . . . Offers a fascinating glimpse into the mostly secret competition between codemakers and codebreakers.” —USA Today on THE CODE BOOK

“The history of mathematics comes alive even for those who dread balancing their checkbooks.” —Publishers Weekly on FERMAT'S ENGIMA

“Singh captures the joys and frustrations of this quest for an extremely elusive proof...and builds to a truly engrossing climax. It's a mathematical page-turner.” —Library Journal on FERMAT'S ENIGMA

From the Publisher

2013-10-01
Higher math for dummies, courtesy of The Simpsons. Perhaps Simpsons nerds have known this all along, but for the rest of us who think of the TV show as primarily a sharp piece of comic writing, it may come as a surprise to learn that it is riddled with sophisticated mathematics, including rubber sheet geometry, the puzzle of Rubik's Cube, Fermat's last theorem ("embedded within a narrative that explores the complexities of higher-dimensional geometry"), Mersenne prime numbers and plenty of other obscure material. Often in the show, this will fly by as sight gags, but just as often it is faced head-on, as when Lisa tackles statistics or Homer ponders three dimensions. Singh (Big Bang: The Origin of the Universe, 2005, etc.) is a lively writer with an easy, unthreatening manner who takes readers smoothly through some fairly thorny mathematics. He also dives into the curious relationship between mathematics and comedy writers: It appears that most Simpsons writers graduated from Harvard with a degree in mathematics, and nearly all were on the staff of the Lampoon. Singh finds them possessed of a desire "to drip-feed morsels of mathematics into the subconscious minds of viewers." One of the show's writers put it simply: "The process of proving something has some similarity with the process of comedy writing, inasmuch as there's no guarantee you're going to get to your ending." The author includes plenty of solid, vest-pocket profiles of both the show's writers and great mathematicians of the past--e.g., Zu Chongzhi, Sophie Germain, Leonhard Euler--as well as a look at Matt Groening's Simpsons spawn, Futurama, a show about a futuristic delivery service with enough nerdy references to sink a spaceship. A fun trip with the "ultimate TV vehicle for pop culture mathematics."

Kirkus Reviews