10 Simon Singh - How the Simpsons Have Secretly Been Teaching You Math

Inquiring Minds

Science, Society & Culture, Neuroscience, Female Host, Interview, Social Sciences, Critical Thinking

4.4 • 848 Ratings

🗓️ 22 November 2013

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Simon Singh isn't exactly your average fan of Fox's The Simpsons. He has a Ph.D. in particle physics from Cambridge, and made an award-winning documentary about Fermat's Last Theorem. Let's be frank: He's a math geek.But then, so are a surprisingly large number of the show's writers. You may not have realized it, but as Singh shows in his new book, The Simpsons and their Mathematical Secrets, a seemingly endless supply of mathematical jokes and references are crammed into each Simpsons episode.We talk to Singh about The Simpsons, as well as his work in science advocacy and libel reform.This episode also features a discussion of some of the science behind Thanksgiving: Why gratitude is good for us, and what kinds of food safety issues you should know about when it comes to Thanksgiving leftovers.Subscribe:itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/inquiring-minds/id711675943feeds.feedburner.com/inquiring-mindsSupport the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds

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0:00.0	It's Friday, November 22nd, and you're listening to Inquiring Minds.
0:05.9	I'm Chris Mooney.
0:06.9	And I'm Indrae Viscontas.
0:08.3	Each week we bring you a new in-depth exploration of the space where science, politics, and society collide.
0:14.5	We endeavor to find out what's true, what's left to discover, and why it all matters.
0:18.1	You can find us online at climatedest.org, and you can follow us on
0:21.9	Twitter at Inquiring Show and on Facebook at slash Inquiring Minds podcast.
0:31.3	This week on the podcast, I chatted with Simon Singh. He's a science writer with a PhD in
0:36.1	particle physics and BAFTA Award for his BBC
0:39.4	documentary Fermat's Last Theorem. He's also known for the bestseller The Codebook, which was
0:44.8	turned into a TV series called The Science of Secrecy. So he's no stranger to both television
0:49.8	and math, a combination that led him to write a book that just came out on The Simpsons and
0:54.5	their mathematical secrets. So here's what he had to say about the Simpsons and math.
0:59.0	But then you realize there are lots of mathematicians on The Simpsons. Obviously, they're
1:03.3	no longer mathematicians, they're now comedy writers, but they still have a great affection
1:08.3	towards numbers and geometry. And the way they express that is by making lots and lots of mathematical references.
1:15.1	Throughout the last 25 seasons of The Simpsons, there's everything from calculus to Pythagoras' theorem,
1:21.7	from Euler's identity to perfect numbers.
1:24.8	It's all there.
1:26.1	It's all there in The Simpsons. So, Andrea, I think this is
1:29.7	objective proof that MathNirr, which I guess many of the Simpsons writers are, or at least more
1:34.4	than in most shows, math nerds rule the universe because these guys, they could have been working
	...

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