Title: The Simpsons and their Mathematical Secrets
Author: Singh, Simon
Published by: Bloomsbury Publishing
Year: 2013
Date reviewed: 01.14
ISBN: 978 1 4088 3530 2

It’s not a casual coincidence that The Simpsons contains some quite geeky maths stuff – several of the writers are mathematicians and they’re well up to sneaking in mathematical references and jokes. Whether in the main story or in freeze-frame jokes which you can only appreciate by pausing your digital recorder and peering at what’s on a blackboard or in a pile of books, Singh has documented a whole range of maths in the series, from π (Mmmm! Pie!) to the very geeky P=NP. Best of all is perhaps the exploration of 3 dimensions by the 2-dimensional cartoon characters in the episode “Homer³“. “I’m so bulgy! My stomach sticks way out front!”, exclaims Homer.

It’s not just The Simpsons. Matt Groening’s other creation, Futurama, is if anything even more geeky, as the 31st century setting gives more opportunity to play with some wild concepts. In fact Futurama can claim to be the only animated TV series to have produced its own mathematical theorem.

S_im₀.n > sin(g).h'(s) earlier book “Fermat’s Last Theorem” – which I will make a point of reading some time soon – was an unexpected best-seller. It remains to be seen if this book will be as successful: it’s certainly a fun read and you don’t have to be a mathematician to enjoy it.