''The Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets'' is a 2013 book by Simon Singh, which is based on the premise that "many of the writers of ''The Simpsons'' are deeply in love with

number A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The most basic examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers can ...

s, and their ultimate desire is to drip-feed morsels of

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

into the

subconscious In psychology, the subconscious is the part of the mind that is not currently of focal awareness. The term was already popularized in the early 20th century in areas ranging from psychology, religion and spirituality. The concept was heavily popu ...

minds of viewers". The book compiles all the mathematical references used throughout the show's run, and analyzes them in detail. Rather than just explaining the mathematical concepts in the context of how they relate to the relevant

episodes Episodes may refer to: * Episode, a part of a dramatic work * Episodes (TV series), ''Episodes'' (TV series), a British/American television sitcom which premiered in 2011 * Episodes (journal), ''Episodes'' (journal), a geological science journal ...

of ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

'', Singh "uses them as a starting point for lively discussions of mathematical topics, anecdotes and history". Topics covered include

Fermat's Last Theorem In number theory, Fermat's Last Theorem (sometimes called Fermat's conjecture, especially in older texts) states that no three positive number, positive integers , , and satisfy the equation for any integer value of greater than . The cases ...

, which Singh has written a popular book about, and

Euler's identity In mathematics, Euler's identity (also known as Euler's equation) is the Equality (mathematics), equality e^ + 1 = 0 where :e is E (mathematical constant), Euler's number, the base of natural logarithms, :i is the imaginary unit, which by definit ...

. A chapter is dedicated to the "Homer³" segment from Treehouse of Horror VI, in which Homer finds himself in the third dimension (rendered with then-cutting edge

computer graphics Computer graphics deals with generating images and art with the aid of computers. Computer graphics is a core technology in digital photography, film, video games, digital art, cell phone and computer displays, and many specialized applications. ...

). Singh points out many mathematical references in the segment, such as the cosmological equation (ρ_m0 > ) which describes the density of the universe and foreshadows the end of the segment. Singh discusses several equations that Homer writes on a chalkboard in "The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace", including one that predicts the mass of the

Higgs boson The Higgs boson, sometimes called the Higgs particle, is an elementary particle in the Standard Model of particle physics produced by the excited state, quantum excitation of the Higgs field, one of the field (physics), fields in particl ...

: “If you work it out, you get the mass of a Higgs boson that’s only a bit larger than the nano-mass of a Higgs boson actually is. It’s kind of amazing as Homer makes this prediction 14 years before it was discovered.”

Critical reception

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' described it as a "readable and unthreatening introduction to various

mathematical concepts Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, theories and theorems that are developed and proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many areas of mathematics, which include numb ...

". ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' described it as a "highly entertaining book". The book was well-received by ''The Simpsons'' staff; ''Simpsons'' writer and ''

Futurama ''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company and later revived by Comedy Central, and then Hulu. The series follows Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1 ...

'' co-creator David X. Cohen said "Simon Singh's excellent book blows the lid off a decades-long conspiracy to educate cartoon viewers."

Mike Reiss Michael L. Reiss ( '; born September 15, 1959) is an American television comedy writer. He served as a showrunner, writer, and producer for the animated series ''The Simpsons'' and co-created the animated series ''The Critic''. He created and ...

compared it favorably to the works of

Martin Gardner Martin Gardner (October 21, 1914May 22, 2010) was an American popular mathematics and popular science writer with interests also encompassing magic, scientific skepticism, micromagic, philosophy, religion, and literatureespecially the writin ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets 2013 non-fiction books Non-fiction books about The Simpsons Popular mathematics books Books by Simon Singh Bloomsbury Publishing books