Singh, Simpsons, Science Friday

If you missed Simon Singh (author of "The Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets") and David Cohen on NPR's "Science Friday" today with Ira Flatow, well, you're in for a treat:

http://tinyurl.com/kdys4wz

A Few Quotes

Just a few quotations for your reflection today, taken from Simon Singh's "The Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets":

From famous British mathematician G.H. Hardy: "Archimedes will be remembered when Aeschylus is forgotten, because languages die and mathematical ideas do not. 'Immortality' may be a silly  word, but probably a mathematician has the best chance of whatever it may mean."

From Simpsons writer (and Harvard physics grad) David Cohen, on the satisfaction derived from slipping mathematics into Simpsons' episodes: "I feel great about it. It's very easy working in television to not  feel good about what you do on the grounds that you're causing the collapse of society. So, when we get the opportunity to raise the level of discussion -- particularly to glorify mathematics -- it cancels out those days when I've been writing those bodily function jokes."

And from author Singh: "It would be easy for non-nerds to dismiss the mathematical shenanigans that appear on The Simpsons and Futurama as superficial and frivolous, but that would be an insult to the wit and dedication of the two most mathematically gifted writing teams in the history of television. They have never shied away from championing everything from Fermat's last theorem to their very own Futurama theorem.
"As a society we rightly adore our great musicians and novelists, yet we seldom hear any mention of the humble mathematician. It is clear that mathematics is not considered part of our culture. Instead, mathematics is generally feared and mathematicians are often mocked. Despite this, the writers of The Simpsons and Futurama have been smuggling complex mathematical ideas onto prime-time television for almost a quarter of a century."

Singh, Simpsons, and Smuggling Math

I suppose writing a book about the most popular animated series (and one of the most long-running TV shows) of all time is a good way to insure a best-seller, and if the publicity surrounding physicist/writer Simon Singh's latest book is any indication, he has accomplished that. Another wonderful piece on Singh and his latest volume, "The Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets":

http://tinyurl.com/mqw4n85

The book is readily available in the UK, but I haven't personally seen it in a US bookstore yet, though I'm sure it won't be long, and of course is available for order online.

According to the article, Singh's "trick is to find a hook, tell an interesting story, and then ensure that science is slipped into it – a little bit like hiding the sprouts at the bottom of a child's favourite dinner."
Singh notes that The Simpsons is "the world's most popular TV series and nobody knows that there's this band of mathematicians at the heart of its writing team. People don't know that they smuggle maths into the series."

and one more bit:

"But should a science writer really be watching episodes of The Simpsons on repeat or could he be doing something more productive? He laughs. He says his wife, Anita Anand, a journalist and radio presenter who is writing a book on Sophia Duleep Singh, the Indian princess and suffragette, spends all day at the British Library, transcribing personal diaries. 'She comes back and I'm just lying on the sofa watching The Simpsons. I think she has a huge amount of fun doing that, but rather her than me. I'm happy watching The Simpsons at home.' "

The whole piece is great; check it out, and if you're either a Simpsons geek or a math geek (I think that covers about everyone), get the book.

D'OH!

If you're a Simpsons fan (and you darn well oughta be!) then the below post is for you, whether you relate most to Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, or none of the above. The secret nerdiness of one of the most popular, long-running shows in the history of TV is 'outed' by Simon Singh in his new mathematical expose' ("The Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets") of that all-American family. Wonderful longish post below hints at how delightful the book is (…really, one of the most fun articles I've read in awhile):

http://tinyurl.com/p5xbj9j

Here's a bit therefrom:

"My favourite freeze-frame gag appears in "The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace" (1998), in which Homer tries to become an inventor. In one scene, we see him busily scribbling equations on a blackboard. One of the equations relates to the mass of the Higgs boson, another concerns cosmology and the bottom line explores the geometry of doughnuts, but the most interesting equation is the second one, which appears to be a counterexample to Fermat's last theorem.

"Although it was only on screen for a moment, this equation immediately caught my eye, because I have written a book on Fermat's last theorem. Homer's scribble sent a shiver down my spine. I was so shocked that I almost snapped my slide rule… [Singh goes on here to explain Fermat's Last Theorem to the reader before continuing]:

"...Homer's blackboard proves the opposite!

3987^12 + 4365^12 = 4472^12.

Check it for yourself on your phone calculator and you will find that the equation balances!"

[The problem famously lies in the error factor of the digital output for a handheld calculator; i.e. Homer does NOT disprove Fermat.]