The Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets (2013) Simon Singh [mobi/epub/azw3]

Format: mobi/epub/azw3
Length: 272 pages
Genre: Non-Fiction/Science/Culture
Date: 29 October 2013

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.

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.

Author:

Simon Singh, MBE (born 1 January 1964) is a British author who has specialised in writing about mathematical and scientific topics in an accessible manner. He is the maiden winner of the Lilavati Award. His written works include Fermat's Last Theorem (in the United States titled Fermat's Enigma: The Epic Quest to Solve the World's Greatest Mathematical Problem), The Code Book (about cryptography and its history), Big Bang (about the Big Bang theory and the origins of the universe) and Trick or Treatment?