The simpsons and maths5/10/2023 ![]() ![]() Singh, a science writer with a PhD in physics, first noticed the maths of The Simpsons while watching "The Wizard of Ever Green Terrace", an episode in which Homer wrote on a blackboard: 3,987^12 + 4,365^12 = 4,472^12, thus apparently solving Fermat's last theorem. When writer Eric Kaplan was told a maths gag was too obscure for most viewers, he replied "f*** 'em". But the mathematically inclined Simpsons creators don't care. These jokes, says Simon Singh, the Mohawk-haired, Harry Potter-bespectacled author of The Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets, are often only noticed by "about three people". ![]() The Sim psons and Futurama are packed with surprisingly complex, throwaway gags about maths. I'm sure you've figured it out for yourself*. I won't patronise you by explaining the joke. He is unconcerned until he sees it reflected in a mirror as 1010011010. In Futurama, another cartoon created by Matt Groening, Bender the robot sees the binary number 0101100101 written in blood. The last digit is 1." Well, the 40,000th decimal place of pi actually is the digit 1. In another episode Apu announces he can "recite pi to 40,000 places. Irish Times readers will, of course, recognise that (a) is a "prime number", (b) is a "perfect number" and (c) is a "narcissistic number". In the Simpsons episode "Marge and Homer Turn a Couple Play", a big screen in Springfield's baseball stadium asks the crowd to guess the capacity. ![]()
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