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Math with Cohen and Groening

Posted by Zonk on from the learning-is-fun dept.

An anonymous reader writes "While math on The Simpsons and math on Futurama has been covered by Slashdot before, new background on some of the scientific references is covered in a long transcription of A Futurama Math Conversation with David X Cohen and a short summary of a math club talk to Matt Groening and a number of writers from both shows. Some amusing tidbits are on these pages - for example, when the Simpsons writers contacted NASA for the 40,000th digit of pi, NASA actually sent them a printout of all 40,000 digits."

12 of 187 comments (clear)

  1. Re:The simpsons must have... by 0racle · · Score: 5, Funny

    Its not their fault that you don't get it.

    --
    "I use a Mac because I'm just better than you are."
  2. Ah, so... by wbren · · Score: 5, Funny
    NASA actually sent them a printout of all 40,000 digits
    ...that's why NASA's annual paper budget is $17.3 million.
    --
    -William Brendel
  3. And it's down to a quantum finish.. by MustardMan · · Score: 5, Funny

    NO FAIR! You changed the outcome by measuring it!

  4. Re:Instead of NASA... by wbren · · Score: 5, Funny
    ...recall pi to 22,514 decimal places
    A lot of good that would have done the writers. After all, would a joke about the 22,514th be as funny as one about the 40,000th digit? I think not! That's what makes The Simpsons such a high quality show. They don't stop at 22,514 like those savants do.
    --
    -William Brendel
  5. Maple is good at this by jfern · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It just took about 20 seconds to evaluate
    evalf(Pi,40000).

    In case anyone cares:
    The 40000th digit is a 5.
    The 40000th digit after the decimal is a 1.

  6. I love Slashdot! by bowloframen · · Score: 5, Funny

    An article about the Simpsons, and 19 of the first 20 replies are about pi and the other one's about how hot a blue-haired, yellow-skinned cartoon character is.

  7. Re:What's so great about the Simpsons? by Eskarel · · Score: 5, Insightful
    The beauty of shows like the Simpsons, and to an even greater extent South Park, is not so much that they deal with every single important issue, it's that they bring semi-important issues to viewers who would not otherwise be reached.

    Most of my extended family are hard line Catholic republicans, they not only voted for Bush, but did so with joy in their hearts. They don't listen to much of anything anyone tried to tell them about either alternate viewpoints or even their own beliefs.

    However, many of my younger cousins watch South Park and/or the Simpsons and are exposed to ideas which contradict their own, they may not immediately see it, but they are exposed to them without automatically tuning out. This is why these shows are great, because the gags allow a message to get across to people who don't listen to other sources.

  8. Corny Pi Joke by Adrilla · · Score: 5, Funny

    In ninth grade algebra, I walk into class and the teacher had put an infinity symbol on the whiteboard. I, being the smart ass I am says,
    "Mr. Dewey, who killed eight?"
    Mr. Dewey says without missing a beat,
    "Pi, It's an irrational number."

    (Feel free to throw tomatoes at my post. But I did warn you that it was corny, plus this is as humorous as I get at 2am EDT.)

    --

    "Plans are for fools! Oglethorpe, the plutonian (Aqua Teen Hunger Force)
  9. Re:The simpsons must have... by mranchovy · · Score: 5, Funny

    mmmmmmmmm, pi.

    --
    I am so smart!
    I am so smart!
    S-M-R-T!
    I mean S-M-A-R-T!
  10. Re:Why NASA? by IvyMike · · Score: 5, Informative

    I don't know why they needed NASA for that. Pifast will spit out the first 40,000th digits in a very short time on modern computers.

    That was in episode 9F20, which aired 5/6/93. No Pifast, no google; heck, NCSA Mosaic wasn't even around until June.

  11. Why NASA? by Grendel+Drago · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Why'd they have to contact NASA? And don't give me any crap about it being 1993; Project Gutenberg's pi to a million digits was released before 1993.

    --grendel drago

    --
    Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca
  12. Math conference by AgentPhunk · · Score: 5, Funny

    I recall a joke by comedian Steven Wright (I think):

    I went to a math conference recently, and the hotel at the conference labelled all the rooms with math symbols.
    Mine was Pi. Easy enough to find, but it took FOREVER to dial on the hotel phone system.