The Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets
1st Edition
Published on 29. October 2013
272 pages
978-1-4088-3531-9 (ISBN)
Description
From bestselling author of Fermat's Last Theorem, a must-have for number lovers and Simpsons fans
'An entertaining picture of the insanely high-minded nature of the Simpsons' writers' Sunday Times
'A valuable, entertaining book that, above all, celebrates a supremely funny, sophisticated show' Financial Times
You may have watched hundreds of episodes of The Simpsons (and its sister show Futurama) without ever realising that they contain enough maths to form an entire university course.
In The Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets, Simon Singh explains how the brilliant writers, some of the mathematicians, have smuggled in mathematical jokes throughout the cartoon's twenty-five year history, exploring everything from to Mersenne primes, from Euler's equation to the unsolved riddle of P vs. NP, from perfect numbers to narcissistic numbers, and much more.
With wit, clarity and a true fan's zeal, Singh analyses such memorable episodes as 'Bart the Genius' and 'Homer³' to offer an entirely new insight into the most successful show in television history.
'An entertaining picture of the insanely high-minded nature of the Simpsons' writers' Sunday Times
'A valuable, entertaining book that, above all, celebrates a supremely funny, sophisticated show' Financial Times
You may have watched hundreds of episodes of The Simpsons (and its sister show Futurama) without ever realising that they contain enough maths to form an entire university course.
In The Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets, Simon Singh explains how the brilliant writers, some of the mathematicians, have smuggled in mathematical jokes throughout the cartoon's twenty-five year history, exploring everything from to Mersenne primes, from Euler's equation to the unsolved riddle of P vs. NP, from perfect numbers to narcissistic numbers, and much more.
With wit, clarity and a true fan's zeal, Singh analyses such memorable episodes as 'Bart the Genius' and 'Homer³' to offer an entirely new insight into the most successful show in television history.
More details
Edition
1. Auflage
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Illustrations
20 b/w throughout
ISBN-13
978-1-4088-3531-9 (9781408835319)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Simon Singh
The Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets
Book
09/2014
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
€16.50
Available immediately
Simon Singh
The Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets
Book
10/2013
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
€43.51
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Person
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 Channel 4 series The Science of Secrecy and his third book, Big Bang, was also a bestseller. He lives in London.
Content
- Cover
- Praise for The Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets
- NOTE ON THE AUTHOR
- Title Page
- Dedication
- Table of Contents
- CHAPTER 0 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE SIMPSONS
- CHAPTER 1 BART THE GENIUS
- CHAPTER 2 ARE YOU ?-CURIOUS?
- CHAPTER 3 HOMER'S LAST THEOREM
- CHAPTER 4 THE PUZZLE OF MATHEMATICAL HUMOR
- EXAMINATION I
- CHAPTER 5 SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION
- CHAPTER 6 LISA SIMPSON, QUEEN OF STATS AND BATS
- CHAPTER 7 GALGEBRA AND GALGORITHMS
- EXAMINATION II
- CHAPTER 8 A PRIME-TIME SHOW
- CHAPTER 9 TO INFINITY AND BEYOND
- CHAPTER 10 THE SCARECROW THEOREM
- EXAMINATION III
- CHAPTER 11 FREEZE-FRAME MATHEMATICS
- CHAPTER 12 ANOTHER SLICE OF ?
- CHAPTER 13 HOMER3
- EXAMINATION IV
- CHAPTER 14 THE BIRTH OF FUTURAMA
- CHAPTER 15 1,729 AND A ROMANTIC INCIDENT
- CHAPTER 16 A ONE-SIDED STORY
- CHAPTER 17 THE FUTURAMA THEOREM
- EXAMINATION V
- E?LOGUE
- APPENDIX 1 THE SABERMETRICS APPROACH IN SOCCER
- APPENDIX 2 MAKING SENSE OF EULER'S EQUATION
- APPENDIX 3 FERMAT'S LAST THEOREM PROGRAM
- APPENDIX 4 DR. KEELER'S RECIPE FOR THE SUM OF SQUARES
- APPENDIX 5 FRACTALS AND FRACTIONAL DIMENSIONS
- APPENDIX 6 KEELER'S THEOREM
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- PICTURE CREDITS
- Copyright
