The Simpsons Math Lessons

Wired points out a new book that analyzes the math background of folks involved with The Simpsons:

It’s no secret that the longest-running American sitcom is also one of the smartest. Academics have pored over The Simpsons for its insights into philosophy and psychology, but it took physicist Simon Singh, the author of previous books about cryptography, the Big Bang, and Fermat’s Enigma, to tap a vein of knowledge that runs even deeper in the animated world of Springfield: math.
In the engaging (and educational) The Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets, Singh delves into the academic backgrounds of some of the most poindextrous Simpsons writers -- Al Jean, J. Stewart Burns, Jeff Westbrook, and David X. Cohen among them -- who are equipped with advanced degrees in math and science. Naturally, they’ve been using their platform to advance what Cohen calls "a decades-long conspiracy to secretly educate cartoon viewers."

They give several examples of high level math jokes and references.  My favorite:

"Bye Bye Nerdie" (2001)

Bumbling Professor Frink struggles to bring order to a raucous crowd of scientists at Springfield’s 12th Annual Big Science Thing, before he shocks the room to silence by yelling, "Pi is exactly three!"
The obvious joke is that only such a preposterous inaccuracy could quiet a group of math geeks, but there’s another layer. Writer Al Jean based the line on an actual attempt to legislate an official value for pi, known as the Indiana Pi Bill of 1897, in which an amateur mathematician suggested "squaring the circle" by rounding π to 3.2. The baffled state House of Representatives allowed the measure to pass, but luckily a Purdue University math professor intervened before the Senate ratified the absurdity into law."

I mainly picked this because it references the general foolishness of Indiana, although when I first saw Indiana Pi Bill of 1897, my first thought was 1987, and even if it was 1987, I wouldn't have been surprised.  Damn Hoosiers.