What's Science Ever Done For Us: What the Simpsons Can Teach Us About Physics, Robots, Life, and the Universe

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 272 pages
• Published by: Wiley; Mti edition July 9, 2007
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0470114606
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0470114605
• Book Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Weighs: 12 ounces

From Booklist
Just in time for the release of the big-screen Simpsons movie, and in the tradition of numerous others in the Science of . . . series, comes this entertaining, educational look at the world's most famous yellow-skinned cartoon characters and what they can teach usbelieve it or notabout genetics, artificial intelligence, time travel, space travel, extraterrestrials, quantum physics, the Coriolis effect, and other mind-expanding matters. Like William Irwin's The Simpsons and Philosophy (2001), the book extracts wisdom and real-world lessons from the long-running animated show: Halpern uses an episode in which Homer sells a tobacco-tomato crossbreed called tomacco, for example, to explore the subject of genetic mutation; the famous episode "The Springfield Files," in which a green-glowing alien is revealed to be Mr. Burns, leads the author into a discussion of the dangers of overexposure to radium. Halpern, a physics and mathematics professor, is clearly a big Simpsons fan, and, in addition to being informative and accessible to the lay reader, his book is a lot of fun. It's not often you laugh while you read a science book; like The Simpsons itself, the book is funny and smart. Pitt, David

Product Review
"A hugely entertaining celebration of the science behind the cartoon silliness."
(The Guardian Review, Saturday 18th August 2007)

"a book that can be enjoyed by all ages."  (Physics World, December 2007)

"[The book] is a fun introduction to some aspects of science that will appeal to anyone curious about some common science"  (concatenation.org, Wednesday 16th January 2008)

Reader Reviews
If you're a fan of The Simpsons, then you know that they've had plenty of episodes that involve fairly scientific topics and a few well-known guest stars from the scientific community. Paul Halpern digs a little deeper into these mysteries of science in the book What's Science Ever Done For Us: What the Simpsons Can Teach Us About Physics, Robots, Life, and the Universe. By the time you get done with the book, you'll be better edumacated about a lot of things, and you'll have an enjoyable time getting there... Contents: Part 1 - It's Alive!: The Simpson Gene; You Say Tomato, I Say Tomacco; Blinky, the Three-Eyed Fish; Burns's Radiant Glow; We All Live in a Cell-Sized Submarine; Lisa's Recipe for Life; Look Homer-Ward, Angel Part 2 - Mechanical Plots: D'ohs ex Machina; Perpetual Commotion; Dude, I'm an Android; Rules for Robots; Chaos in Cartoonland; Fly in the Ointment Part 3 - No Time to D'ohs: Clockstopping; A Toast to the Past; Frinking about the Future Part 4 - Springfield, the Universe, and Beyond: Lisa's Scoping Skills; Diverting Rays; The Plunge Down Under; If Astrolabes Could Talk; Cometary Cowabunga; Homer's Space Odyssey; Could This Really Be the End?; Foolish Earthlings; Is the Universe a Donut?; The Third Dimension of Homer Inconclusion: The Journey Continues Acknowledgments; The Simpsons Movie Handy Science Checklist; Scientifically Relevant Episodes Discussed in This Book; Notes; Further Information; Index I'll admit I was expecting far less from this book when I first heard of it. I've seen too many "intellectuals" dissect a cartoon or story and add layers of complexity and academic baggage to the point that they've created their own fantasy world about what things "really" mean. Fortunately, that doesn't happen here. Halpern treats the Simpsons series with respect in terms of enjoying the episodes and understanding that they are primarily entertainment. But he goes deeper into some of the episodes to examine the science behind the storyline. For instance, he discusses the "fact" that water drains counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere due to the Coriolis effect. This is tied back to an episode where Bart and Lisa were trying to prove that fact and ended up having to travel to Australia to avoid an international incident. By the time you're done with the chapter, you know exactly what the Coriolis effect is, and whether water really *does* behave that way. Or there's the discussion about perpetual motion machines and whether it would ever be possible to build one like Lisa did in one episode. Again, by the end of the chapter, you know why the laws of thermodynamics mean that it's impossible to do that. Add in a few guest appearance by people like Stephen Hawkings, and you end up with an entertaining read about solid science, along with a few "I remember that episode!" moments... This is a definite "should read" for Simpson fans, and perhaps a really good resource for teachers who are trying to hook younger minds into the realities of science... Comment | | (Report this)