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Book Cover for: What's Science Ever Done for Us: What the Simpsons Can Teach Us about Physics, Robots, Life, and the Universe, Paul Halpern

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

Paul Halpern

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. What's Science Ever Done for Us? examines these and many other topics through the lens of America's 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 world's 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 can't stop time and have fun forever, Paul Halpern explores the theoretical possibilities involving Einstein's theory of time dilation.

Book Details

  • Publisher: Trade Paper Press
  • Publish Date: Jul 1st, 2007
  • Pages: 272
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 9.20in - 6.10in - 0.80in - 0.75lb
  • EAN: 9780470114605
  • Categories: GeneralPopular CultureTelevision - General

About the Author

Halpern, Paul: - PAUL HALPERN, PHD, 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 the author of The Great Beyond, also from Wiley.

More books by Paul Halpern

Book Cover for: The Allure of the Multiverse: Extra Dimensions, Other Worlds, and Parallel Universes, Paul Halpern
Book Cover for: Einstein's Dice and Schrödinger's Cat: How Two Great Minds Battled Quantum Randomness to Create a Unified Theory of Physics, Paul Halpern
Book Cover for: The Quantum Labyrinth: How Richard Feynman and John Wheeler Revolutionized Time and Reality, Paul Halpern
Book Cover for: The Great Beyond: Higher Dimensions, Parallel Universes and the Extraordinary Search for a Theory of Everything, Paul Halpern
Book Cover for: Collider: The Search for the World's Smallest Particles, Paul Halpern
Book Cover for: Flashes of Creation: George Gamow, Fred Hoyle, and the Great Big Bang Debate, Paul Halpern
Book Cover for: What's the Matter with Pluto?: The Story of Pluto's Adventures with the Planet Club, Paul Halpern
Book Cover for: Countdown to Apocalypse: A Scientific Exploration of the End of the World, Paul Halpern
Book Cover for: Edge of the Universe: A Voyage to the Cosmic Horizon and Beyond, Paul Halpern
Book Cover for: The Cyclical Serpent: Prospects for an Ever-Repeating Universe, Paul Halpern
Book Cover for: Back from the Brink: Lessons from the Canadian Asset-Backed Commercial Paper Crisis, Paul Halpern
Book Cover for: Synchronicity: The Epic Quest to Understand the Quantum Nature of Cause and Effect, Paul Halpern
Book Cover for: Faraway Worlds: Planets Beyond Our Solar System, Paul Halpern
Book Cover for: The Quest for Alien Planets: Exploring Worlds Outside the Solar System, Paul Halpern
Book Cover for: The Mediterranean Fleet, 1919-1929, Paul Halpern
Book Cover for: The Mediterranean Fleet, 1919 1929, Paul Halpern

Praise for this book

* "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)