Discover the Science
Behind The
Simpsons

A playful and entertaining look at
the science behind the world's most popular animated series from three-eyed fish to
donut-shaped universes.
What's
Science Ever Done for Us?
What
The Simpsons Can Teach Us About
Physics,
Robots, Life, and the Universe
By Paul Halpern
"The
Simpsons... never assumes that its audience is too dull to dig the
real questions in science and ethics that it poses. Part of its
charm is that
it's not so full of itself to pretend that it has easy answers to them
either. We're looking
forward to reading What's Science Ever Done For Us? when it comes
out in July.
-TechRevu
Learn
the answers to these baffling questions and more:
- Does Lisa possess the dreaded
"Simpson gene?"
- Are there really three-eyed fish
near nuclear reactors?
- Could radiation cause Mr. Burns to
glow?
- Does the Coriolis force affect
household appliances?
- Is Homer truly a man of many
dimensions?
- Could a fully conscious robot
brother replace Bart?
- What could a talking astrolabe
tell us?
- How hazardous is tomacco?
- Is it really possible to create
black holes in home supply stores?
- How could Lisa create her own
miniature universe as a science project?
- Which prominent scientists have
appeared on the show as guest stars?
- If Springfield and the world were
threatened with destruction would there be hope for the human race?
- Could
Bart and Milhouse stop time
forever and create perpetual mayhem?
Chapter Titles:
PART
ONE: IT’S ALIVE
1. The Simpson
Gene
2. You Say
Tomato, I Say Tomacco
3. Blinky, The
Three-Eyed Fish
4. Burns’s
Radiant Glow
5. We All Live
in a Cell-Sized Submarine
6. Lisa’s Recipe
for Life
7. Look
Homer-ward Angel
PART
TWO: MECHANICAL PLOTS
8. D’ohs Ex
Machina
9. Perpetual
Commotion
10. Dude, I’m an
Android
11. Rules for
Robots
12. Chaos in
Cartoonland
13. Fly in the
Ointment
PART
THREE: NO TIME TO D’OHS
14.
Clockstopping
15. A Toast to
the Past
16. Frinking
about the Future
PART
FOUR: SPRINGFIELD, THE UNIVERSE, AND BEYOND
17. Lisa’s
Scoping Skills
18.
Diverting Rays
19. The Plunge
Down Under
20. If
Astrolabes Could Talk
21. Cometary
Cowabunga
22. Homer’s
Space Odyssey
23. Could This
Really be the End?
24. Foolish
Earthlings
25. Is the
Universe a Donut?
26. The Third
Dimension of Homer
INCONCLUSION:
THE JOURNEY CONTINUES
THE
SIMPSONS MOVIE HANDY SCIENCE CHECKLIST
Available for Pre-order at:
Amazon.com
Amazon.ca
Amazon.co.uk
Barnes
and Noble
Wiley
Paul
Halpern: Science Books and Articles
Paul Halpern's Blog
This
website has not been approved, licensed or sponsored by any person or
entity involved in making The Simpsons, The Simpsons Movie or related
products.
External Links:
The Simpsons Archive
Mathematics on the Simpsons
Stephen
Hawking on the Simpsons

Physics
World: "Science and the Simpsons"
Marco
Malaspina's Master's Thesis about Science on the Simpsons (in Italian)
Guardian:
"Eat My Lab Coat"
Seed:
"Meet the Geeks"
Scotsman:
"Simpsons a Scientific Revelation"
The Official Simpsons
Television Page
The Official
Simpsons Movie Page
