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

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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...

As anyone who watches the Simpsons can attest (and anyone who is anyone watches the show), Springfield is town that is rife with science.

Within the confines of that fictional town many strange and scientific events take place. Three eyed fish swim the rivers. Homer proposes that the universe is shaped like a donut. He also travels back in time. Lisa builds a perpetual motion machine. The resident scientist, Dr. Frink, builds amazing machines that shrink people and teleport people.

Faced with such an abundance of science, it would be good and wonderful if some sort of book were available that clearly explained life, the universe and everything in that little town.

Fortunately, Paul Halpern has come to save the world...with science...and a book with a really, really long title.

In his 262 page book, What's Science Ever Done for Us: What The Simpsons Can Teach Us about Physics, Robots, Life and the Universe, Halpern explains the science of twenty six classic episodes of the show.

As any professor will attest, explaining complex things such as science means facing two serious challenges. The first is presenting an explanation that is clear and comprehensible. All too often attempts to explain merely lead to greater confusions and naps. In some extreme cases, people are actually blinded with science.

The second challenge is providing an explanation that is interesting. Being a professor myself, I can attest to the fact that a dull explanation can render a class unconscious. So much so, that I am still researching ways to get certain lectures transformed into a pill form (next stop-FDA testing).

Fortunately, Halpern meets these two challenges and brutalizes them in way that would make the bully Nelson proud.
His explanations of complex scientific matters, such as genetics and androids, are eminently clear and comprehensible. So much so that even people with the intellectual horsepower of Homer should be able to grasp his lucid and concise accounts.

His explanations are also quite illustrating. In addition to making use of the appeal of the Simpsons (a brilliant marketing angle, by the way) he also enhances his accounts with clever wit and humor.

I strongly recommend the book to anyone who is a Simpsons' fan. I also recommend it to anyone who wants to learn about science in a way that is interesting and not likely to cause blindness.

As Mr. Burns would say, this book is...excellent.

With his special gift of teaching complex science in an entertaining fashion, Paul Halpern has reached into our collective consciousness and pulled out - the Bard of Springfield (of the State of Vermont, according to The Simpsons movie premiere.) Homer Simpson provides the perfect foil for Halpern's easygoing, sensible rapport. After reading this book, I feel like I've known Halpern for years.

Every chapter has a few precious chestnuts that kept me going. In Chapter 8, called "D'ohs ex Machina," which is all about Thomas Alva Edison, he cracks: "Some think of Homer as just a dim bulb, and therefore would rule out any connection between him and Edison." Later he discusses robots and their potential for humanness, as measured by the venerated Turing Test. Maybe they could be bartenders: "If a robot is not quite ready for the Turing Test, at least it might master the pouring test."

First with "The Great Beyond" and now with "What's Science Ever Done for Us," Paul Halpern has cemented his reputation as the New Asimov, a scientist who can translate advanced research and theory into its worldly implications.

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.

It's not hard to look at these "Science of..." and "Philosophy of..." and "Psychology of..." and "Plumbing Concepts of..." series as shameless attempts to leech off the popularity of shows that have die-hard fan bases. Star Trek, The Daily Show, Seinfeld. The Simpsons.

I haven't read all of them, so I can't acquit all of the authors involved, but I can say that Paul Halpern doesn't seem to be riding that particular boat. This is a real Simpsons fan. And a real science fan. And the book reads like the musings of a man who likes to mull over both things together on his own; the best books are the kind where the authors write more for themselves than for anyone else.

In fact, the only thing that works against this little volume is that it sometimes lapses into "duh" territory. Halpern uses the show to springboard discussions of various topics -- are matter transporters possible? can fish mutate an extra eye? is it possible to genetically bond tomatoes with tobacco? -- and even though he provides a lot of Lisa-like illumination, some of the info is a no brainer. Homers should be pleased.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing, although it meant there were a few points where I felt the book was treading water. Still, Halpern is erudite enough -- and his knowledge of Simpsons arcana vast enough -- to make even these moments fun to read. Halpern is not only excellent at making the most obtuse of topics accessible to readers, he's also a maverick at gracefully weaving in countless references to the show. His knowledge of Simpsons arcana is impressive, and equally impressive is his ability to wield it without being clunky or cute. He doesn't -- like many of these books -- use one half to jump start the other. This book is equal parts Simpsons and science, and both halves are carefully and craftily employed. Even if they don't always blend, they do twine tightly together.

You don't have to be much of a science buff to enjoy the Primer's Approach to Science that Halpern has laid out here. Furthermore, you don't have to be much of a Simpsons buff to chuckle at Halpern's skillful use of Springfieldian trivia in the transitions and topic caps. Of course, if you're either one -- and especially if you're both -- you'll want this book.

If we judge a TV show by its intelligence, creativity and longevity, The Simpsons may be the most successful series of all time, and the scientific questions it seems to raise in most episodes are among its most endearing attributes. We realize, of course, that cartoon characters are not subject to the usual physical laws. However, that doesn't mean that their unlikely exploits cannot be plausible. Most of us are not sure whether three-eyed fish, microscopic people, lifelike robots, time travel and other staples of science fiction are theoretically possible, so Dr. Halpern has written a delightful book that is at once whimsical, entertaining and informative.

Looking to understand Einstein's general theory of relativity? Check out Maggie sitting on a hammock vs. Homer doing so, and watch how differently spacetime curves. Want to check out how time travel affects the future? In Homer's mind, the presence or lack of donuts is the critical determinant of success. Newtonian physics? Consider Marge pushing Maggie's frictionless stroller on a roller rink. The origins of life? Lisa's accidental encounter with genesis. Quantum mechanics? Professor Frink mixing Bart's genetic makeup with that of a fly. If you're interested in travelling through higher dimensions, the Simpsons dealt with that, too. And if you were up nights wondering about the famous Australian toilet flush phenomenon, the mystery is solved here.

When I first picked up this book, I thought the author would use the language of science to explain Simpsons plot twists, but it was actually the other way around. He uses the experiences of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, Maggie, Moe, Principal Skinner and all the other denizens of Springfield we know and love to elucidate basic scientific principles in the fields of physics, biology, chemistry, mathematics, anthropology and cosmology, which is at once a testament to the imaginations of both Dr. Halpern and the show's writers. If you like The Simpsons, you'll love this book.

I am a huge fan of The Simpsons; I think I have watched an episode everyday for the past however many years the series has been on. The show has become part of my stream of consciousness which will cause me to unexpectedly smile or laugh throughout the day. My obsession is so great that friends have even developed an almost psychic ability to recognize when I am thinking about the program. I am also a fan of science and have read many books on scientific subjects so you can appreciate how much I look forward reading about the science of the show.

This book provides great insight to the scientific topics portrayed in some of the best episodes. It was interesting to learn that many of the writers and producer have advanced degrees in science, The Simpsons is one of the most intelligent shows of all time and now I understand why. When reading about the scientific consideration the stories were attempting to impart I now can see why the show is so entertaining. The success of the scripts come from their intellectual conception, this I think resonates almost subconsciously with the fans however is now made clear in this book.

I really appreciated the descriptions of the episodes and the scientific basis of the plots, I found myself laughing even more as the explanation gave me greater awareness however at times the elucidation was to difficult for my high school acumen to comprehend. I think like the show I will just have to read the book again and again to be delighted and educated once more.

I love science, and I like when I find books that cross science and pop culture. Sometimes they allow the pop to overtake the science, but that was not the case with this book. Very easy to read, very informative.

This book talks about an episode of The Simpsons and then goes into the science behind it. There are 26 chapters that each mention a different scientific topic mentioned in The Simpsons. It is a fun read and you learn scientific information. You only learn basic information however, but it is still a good read. The most surprising thing was that in the introduction, the author mentions the educational background of the writers and creators of The Simpsons. Many of them have master's degrees and/or Ph.D.'s in math or science.

Be sure you, personally, have a look through this book to see if it is what you want before buying it. Not recommended for readers younger than 16-18. It will be most enjoyed by college-level science students and young scientists and technically oriented "young" adults.
This book does not "teach" science in a straight forward way. Generally, examples of science are taken from episodes of The Simpsons, an amount of explaination is added, and the author usually leaves good hints for those who want to look for further science-oriented information. However, for me, the book seemed to be more of an appreciation of The Simpsons than a teaching tool for science.
If you are looking for a book to interest young children in serious science, this is not a good pick.