From: scerir (scerir@libero.it)
Date: Fri Mar 22 2002 - 01:02:07 MST
Two math professors, Andrew Nestler of Santa Monica
College and Sarah J. Greenwald of Appalachian State
University in North Carolina, have compiled more
than 100 math references, from the simple to the
cutting edge, in the show's 13-season run.
Nestler and Greenwald, who are huge fans of the show,
began the idea of using The Simpsons in lectures
a few years ago while they were graduate students
at the University of Pennsylvania.
They have given their lecture four times, mostly
recently on Saturday at CalTech for the spring meeting
of the Southern California Mathematical Assn. of America.
In Greenwald's favorite Simpsons math moment, Homer
and Marge Simpson are considering sending their daughter
Lisa to a school for the gifted. As the camera pans,
two young girls playing the game of patty-cake recite
the following playground chant:
Cross my heart and hope to die
Here's the digits that make pi
3.1415926535897932384...
and the camera pans away.
Nestler and Greenwald said some of the math references
show a surprisingly high level of understanding of complex
math topics. In one episode, Homer Simpson, normally a
two-dimensional character, is trapped in a three-dimensional
world. One equation whizzes by the screen:
1,782 ^ 12 + 1844 ^ 12 = 1922 ^ 12.
One could multiply out the numbers raised to the power of
12 to prove that the statement is false - a tedious process
by any measure - but it's not really necessary since the
equation would, if true, prove Fermat's Last Theorem false.
Fermat's Last Theorem, which for centuries stumped the best
mathematical minds, but has been proved, states that when n
is greater than 2, there are no nonzero integers that can
stand in for X, Y, and Z in the equation
X ^ n + Y ^ n = Z ^ n
that will make the equation true.
Much more at:
http://homepage.smc.edu/nestler_andrew/SimpsonsMath.htm
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