Interview with Simon Singh.

Recently as part of the Manchester Science Festival 2013, I caught up with Simon Singh. Simon is the author of the bestselling "Fermat's Last Theorem" and has recently written a book about the maths hidden within "The Simpsons". The book is titled "The Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets" and I spoke to him about the famous yellow family:

Your new book is titled “The Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets”. What made you decide to base a new book all around the famous yellow family?

It’s really hard to find ideas for books. If you worked on a newspaper, you’d not just find one story every day, but two stories every day. When you’re writing books, you’re just looking for a brilliant story every 3 or 4 years. I was looking for something to write about and I saw an episode of “The Simpsons” titled “The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace”. In this episode, there is an equation in the background which relates to Fermat’s last theorem, which is what I based my first book about. When I saw that on “The Simpsons”, I realised that there was somebody there who really understood maths and had deliberately put some high-level maths in the background.

So when I realised that there is maths in “The Simpsons”, it’s a great idea for a book and I couldn't not write about it. It’s just such a gift- you spend all your life looking for stories like this.

So it’s something you can really run away with?

Yeah, you just know that people love “The Simpsons”, people who read my books love maths, so it’s a perfect combination.

Another thing about this book though is that it'a a complete surprise. Nobody would think there’s maths in “The Simpsons”. So not only is it a great combination, it’s a shocking combination. I've been thinking about this book for 8 years and I've hardly come across anybody who’s been aware of these mathematical elements, so in general, people are blown are by this idea of maths hidden in “The Simpsons”.

Earlier you mentioned about you noticed Homer writing about Fermat’s last theorem in the background of one of the episodes, which was the subject of your first book. What inspired you write about what is arguably the most infamous proof of all time?

It’s a gift of a story. When you say to people that it’s a book about a mathematical proof, people then say “Who wants to read that?” Instead if you say: It’s a book about a 350 year old mystery, it’s a book about somebody who solved a problem but never told us the solution. Somebody has buried some treasure but never told us where it is. It’s then about all the characters throughout history who heroically tried and failed to find this treasure. It’s now a book about buried treasure and history. Then you say it’s also about a 10 year old boy who dreams of finding this treasure. It’s then about childhood ambition and holding onto your dreams. When the story is put that way, it’s not hard at all to accept the maths behind it.

On your website you ask that people send their theories and proofs to be peer-reviewed, rather than sending them to you. Are you often inundated with this kind of mail?

I used to get a proof of Fermat’s last theorem every week. Gradually it decreased, as people found other places to send their proofs to. I find it great that people do it but it causes me a few problems. For one, I don’t have the time to look at every proof. I also don’t have the expertise- if you come up with a proof of Fermat’s last theorem, then I’m afraid you need a real mathematician to have a look at it, not me. So it’s partly about saving my own sanity and it’s partly out of practical reasons.

Going back to “The Simpsons” and your book, who do you think this book is mainly going to appeal to?

One group it will especially appeal to are grown-ups who are curious about maths and are looking for a way in. In this book, you have Homer and Lisa holding your hand and taking you through the mathematics. It will appeal to fans of the show, a big part of the population, who are curious about maths. While it is a grown up book, it will also appeal to bright 14-15 year olds who are really interested in maths.

Simon giving a talk.

In general, it will really appeal to a wide audience, I've given talks recently about the book which have had real enthusiasm. An article I wrote [about the book] for the BBC got 1 million hits in a day, so it’s clearly a popular topic. I think people are excited by the juxtaposition of major pop culture with a difficult subject and marrying the two.

Finally, who is your favourite character?

I think my favourite character is Apu. When I was a kid, watching TV 40 years ago, there were no brown people on TV. If there was a brown person on a quiz show, we would call Mum into the room saying “quick Mum, there’s a brown person on the television!” We would be really excited. Now Asian people are on TV, reading the news or they are on “EastEnders” and it isn’t such a big deal. But in America, the Indian migration has occurred much later, so for a long time there weren’t really Indians on American TV. Apu may have been the first. He deserved some kudos for that and also he is a mathematician, so that’s another reason of why I’m very fond of him.

I interviewed Simon before his talk at Blackwell's bookshop on the 26th October 2013. The talk was part of the Manchester Science Festival 2013. The full range of events for the festival can be found here.