Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets

From bestselling author of Fermat's Last Theorem, a must-have for number lovers and Simpsons fans'An entertaining picture of the insanely high-minded nature of the Simpsons’ writers' Sunday Times'A valuable, entertaining book that, above all, celebrates a supremely funny, sophisticated show' Financial TimesYou may have watched hundreds of episodes of The Simpsons (and its sister show Futurama) without ever realising that they contain enough maths to form an entire university course.In The Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets, Simon Singh explains how the brilliant writers, some of the mathematicians, have smuggled in mathematical jokes throughout the cartoon’s twenty-five year history, exploring everything from to Mersenne primes, from Euler’s equation to the unsolved riddle of P vs. NP, from perfect numbers to narcissistic numbers, and much more. With wit, clarity and a true fan’s zeal, Singh analyses such memorable episodes as ‘Bart the Genius’ and ‘Homer³’ to offer an entirely new insight into the most successful show in television history.

Singh blows the lid off a decades-long conspiracy to secretly educate cartoon viewers, An entertaining picture of the insanely high-minded nature of the Simpsons’ writers, Singh shows a knack for gliding seamlessly between abstract mathematical concepts and every day life, always seeking out the most engaging, human and topical examples. Singh’s clean prose, detailed research and enthusiasm for the world of numbers are likely to captivate even those for whom maths normally creates feelings of anxiety rather than mirth, A valuable, entertaining book that, above all, celebrates a supremely funny, sophisticated show, What have Homer and Bart got to do with Euler's equation, the googolplex or the topology of doughnuts? ... Simon Singh has fun weaving great mathematics stories around our favourite TV characters

Simon Singh received his PhD in particle physics from the University of Cambridge. A former BBC producer and BAFTA Award-winning documentary director, he is the author of the bestselling Fermat's Last Theorem. His bestseller The Code Book was the basis for the Channel 4 series The Science of Secrecy and his third book, Big Bang, was also a bestseller. He lives in London.