Friday, June 24, 2016

The Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets, Simon Singh

My favorite popular math writer is Simon Singh. He just makes it feel really understandable and accessible, even when he's writing a whole book on Fermat's Last Theorem. I took calculus in high school, and haven't thought much about math since then; I have only the vaguest idea what e or log mean anymore, I only vaguely ever understood limits and derivatives. But when I read his books I feel like I do, and that's awesome. He writes books that make me wish I'd taken math in college (and understood them).

This book doesn't have much math; he talks a lot about how smart all the Simpsons and Futurama writers are, how many math awards and papers they've published, and all the math jokes they've snuck into the shows. It's fun, it's a fast read, and there are math jokes scattered through it. I think this was a .99c kindle deal of the day a year ago, and I'm glad I bought it then.

Grade: B
#55 in 2016

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