Simpsons Fans as Nerdy as Show's Creators

The Telegraph's Tom Chivers talked to writers Al Jean and David X Cohen about the mathematics in The Simpsons and its sister show Futurama.

Most of the mathematical references and jokes could go unnoticed: a Mersenne prime among a list of multiple choice answers, for instance, or an apparent counterexample to Fermat's Last Theorem floating across the screen. As the writers tell it, though, within hours of an episode's airing, fans will have found any mathematical tidbits and posted about them online. 

“There’s never been something we put in there that hasn’t been found in a couple of hours,” says Jean.

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