Whats Science Ever Done For Us:
What the Simpsons Can Teach Us
About Physics, Robots, Life, and the
Universe by Paul Halpern
Simpsons Simplified Science
A playful and entertaining look at science on The Simpsons
This amusing book explores science as presented on the longest-
running and most popular animated TV series ever made: The Simpsons.
Over the years, the show has examined such issues as genetic mutation,
time travel, artificial intelligence, and even aliens. Whats Science Ever
Done for Us? examines these and many other topics through the lens of
Americas favorite cartoon.
This spirited science guide will inform Simpsons fans and entertain
science buffs with a delightful combination of fun and fact. It will be the
perfect companion to the upcoming Simpsons movie.
The Simpsons is a magnificent roadmap of modern issues in science.
This completely unauthorized, informative, and fun exploration of the
science and technology, connected with the worlds most famous cartoon
family, looks at classic episodes from the show to launch fascinating
scientific discussions mixed with intriguing speculative ideas and a dose of

humor. Could gravitational lensing create optical illusions, such as when
Homer saw someone invisible to everyone else? Is the Coriolis effect
strong enough to make all toilets in the Southern Hemisphere flush
clockwise, as Bart was so keen to find out? If Earth were in peril, would it
make sense to board a rocket, as Marge, Lisa, and Maggie did, and head
to Mars? While Bart and Millhouse cant stop time and have fun forever,
Paul Halpern explores the theoretical possibilities involving Einsteins
theory of time dilation.
Paul Halpern, PhD (Philadelphia, PA) is Professor of Physics and
Mathematics at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia and a 2002
recipient of a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship. He is also
the author of The Great Beyond (0-471-46595-X).
Personal Review: Whats Science Ever Done For Us: What the
Simpsons Can Teach Us About Physics, Robots, Life, and the
Universe by Paul Halpern
Over the course of nearly 20 years, it's easier to ask what the Simpsons
have NOT touched upon. It's the witty, wide ranging and educated way the
writers take on the world that has kept the show on the air, and allowed the
show to become the basis for studies of religion, philosophy and now
science. When working with an animated show you are luckily outside the
realm of the real world, so everything is back to normal at the beginning of
the next episode. At the same time you can take science and have some
fun with it, shrinking people, entering the third dimension and have comets
disintegrate in pollution laden air. However, thanks to brainy Lisa, there
usually is a baseline of true science even when we enter the realm of
science fiction. Paul Halpern takes this baseline truth as a launching point
to discuss varied scientific topics. While never delving too deep into the
science or causing the reader's eyes to glaze over, he does a competent
job in explaining a wide variety of science topics using examples from the
show to help illustrate his point. He will often attribute the storyline points
on science the subject of artistic license or exaggeration (as exampled by
the Cartoon Laws of Physics he references) but he never calls the writers
dumb, nor does he call the reader dumb because he or she comes to the
book believing that toilets swirl the opposite direction depending on
whether you are in the northern or southern hemisphere. Rather he instead
approaches the topics with a "well popular culture may have you think this
is true because of A, B or C, but the fact is that is incorrect, and here's
why." Nothing he writes about goes too deeply into the science topics -
you probably would get deeper science in some Wikipedia articles, but for
the layman that is good. He feeds you spoon sized lessons for the average
reader to digest. You laugh with the Simpsons, and you also learn a little.
Even Homer might enjoy this book.
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