The Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets
Most people have sat through countless episodes of The Simpsons (and its companion show Futurama) without suspecting that the scripts contain enough mathematical substance to fill a university module. In this delightful book, Simon Singh reveals how the show's exceptionally clever writing team, several of whom hold advanced mathematics degrees, have been quietly slipping numerical jokes and concepts into the animation for over twenty-five years. The topics covered are genuinely surprising: Mersenne primes, Euler's equation, the famously unresolved P vs. NP problem, perfect numbers, narcissistic numbers, and quite a bit more besides. Singh writes with sharp wit and the infectious enthusiasm of a lifelong fan, using specific episodes such as 'Bart the Genius' and 'Homer³' as entry points for ideas that reward both the mathematically curious and the complete newcomer. It's a book that changes how you watch the show, permanently.
- Author: Simon Singh
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
- Genre: Film & Cinema
- ISBN: 978-1408842812
- Pages: 272 pages