The Simpsons and their Mathematical Secrets - Simon Singh

The brainy new book by the bestselling author of Fermat’s Last Theorem. A must for anyone interested in mathematics, as well as for the millions of Simpsons fans worldwide.

You may have watched hundreds of episodes of The Simpsons (and its sister show Futurama) without ever realizing that they contain enough mathematics to form an entire university course. That is because many of the writers have advanced degrees in mathematics in addition to their unparalleled senses of humour.

Recounting memorable episodes such as ‘Bart the Genius’ and ‘Homers’ Simon Singh weaves in mathematical stories that explore everything from it to Mersenne primes, from Euler’s equation to the unsolved riddle of P vs. NP, from perfect numbers to narcissistic numbers, from infinity to even bigger infinities, and much more.

Along the way, he meets members of the brilliant writing team behind The Simpsons – among them David X. Cohen, Al Jean, Jeff Westbrook and Mike Reiss – whose love of arcane mathematics becomes clear as they reveal the stories behind the episodes.

With wit, clarity and a true fan’s zeal, Singh offers an entirely new insight into the most successful show in television history.