''The Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets'' is a 2013 book by

Simon Singh Simon Lehna Singh, (born 19 September 1964) is a British popular science author, theoretical and particle physicist. His written works include ''Fermat's Last Theorem'' (in the United States titled ''Fermat's Enigma: The Epic Quest to Solve th ...

, 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 original 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 c ...

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

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

into the

subconscious In psychology, the subconscious is the part of the mind that is not currently of focal awareness. Scholarly use of the term The word ''subconscious'' represents an anglicized version of the French ''subconscient'' as coined in 1889 by the psycho ...

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 An episode is a narrative unit within a larger dramatic work or documentary production, such as a series intended for radio, television or streaming consumption. The noun ''episode'' is derived from the Gree ...

of ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...

'', 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 integers , , and satisfy the equation for any integer value of greater than 2. The cases and have been k ...

, 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 e^ + 1 = 0 where : is Euler's number, the base of natural logarithms, : is the imaginary unit, which by definition satisfies , and : is pi, the ratio of the circum ...

. A chapter is dedicated to the "Homer³" segment from

Treehouse of Horror VI "Treehouse of Horror VI" is the sixth episode of the seventh season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons'', and the sixth episode in the ''Treehouse of Horror'' series. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on ...

, in which Homer finds himself in the third dimension (rendered with then-cutting edge

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

.) Singh points out many mathematical references in the segment, such as the cosmological equation (ρ_m0 > 3H₀² /8πG) which describes the density of the universe and foreshadows the end of the segment. Sing 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 quantum excitation of the Higgs field, one of the fields in particle physics theory. In the Stand ...

: “If you work it out, you get the mass of a

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 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

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

mathematical concepts Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

". ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' 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. The series follows the adventures of the professional slacker Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1000 years a ...

'' 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 ) is an American television comedy writer and author. He served as a show-runner, writer and producer for the animated series ''The Simpsons'' and co-created the animated series ''The Critic''. He created and wrote ...

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 scientific skepticism, micromagic, philosophy, religion, and literatureespecially the writings of Lewis ...

-esque.

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