Name: Matthew Jackson's review of The Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets by Simon Singh
Item: The Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets
Rating: 3
Author: Matthew Jackson

Simon Singh

From bestselling author of Fermat's Last Theorem, a must-have for number lovers and Simpsons fans

The Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets

Matthew Jackson

Based on interviews with the writers of The Simpsons and accompanied by images from the show, facsimiles of scripts, paintings and drawings and other imagery, this fascinating book reveals the meaningful mathematical concepts behind the most successful show in TV history.

Chris Aldrich

I'm both a math junkie and fan of the Simpsons. Singh's book is generally excellent and well written and covers a broad range of mathematical areas. I'm a major fan of his book Big Bang: The Origin of the Universe, but find myself wanting much more from this effort. Much of my problem stems from my very deep knowledge of math and its history as well as having read most of the vignettes covered here in other general popular texts multiple times. Fortunately most readers won't suffer from this and will hopefully find some interesting tidbits both about the Simpsons and math here to whet their appetites. 

There were several spots at which I felt that Singh stretched a bit too far in attempting to tie the Simpsons to "mathematics" and possibly worse, several spots where he took deliberate detours into tangential subjects that had absolutely no relation to the Simpsons, but these are ultimately good for the broader public reading what may be the only math-related book they pick up this decade. 

This could be considered a modern-day version of E.T. Bell's Men of Mathematics but with an overly healthy dose of side-entertainment via the Simpsons and Futurama to help the medicine go down.

Sara Käfer 

You 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.

Matthew Jackson &
The Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets by Simon Singh

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Matthew Jackson &The Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets by Simon Singh

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Join the club

Matthew Jackson &
The Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets by Simon Singh