In my advice on how to write an episode of Fringe last week I joked that Peter would use the Fibonacci sequence to explain something to Olivia. Well, it actually happened in this week’s episode. Walter had been storing secrets in safety deposit boxes numbered with elements from the sequence.

For a few moments I basked in the glory of being spot-on the money (despite it being obvious that they would go there eventually). Then I did a little research and it turns out that the creators have been using the Fibonacci sequence since the beginning, both in the marketing materials and in viral stuff like the 1.61803398874989484820458683436563811.com website. Walter even mumbled the sequence in an earlier episode.

Now I’m beginning to wonder if I knew this all along and just conveniently forgot it. Or maybe I’ve pulled the memories from a future self using “fringe science”. Where is Walter when you need him?

5 December 2008 - 08:04 | Tags: tv, fringe, math, fibonacci

My mind has exploded. I knew that Winnie Cooper went on to study math, but I was not aware she was also an author. It seems she is an expert on such topics as “how to do math without breaking a nail”, something that really would have come in handy during my Winnie Cooper-obsessed, long fingernailed childhood.

Bonus: She’s made a yoga DVD!! According to my calculations, educational textbooks with suggestive titles and included horoscopes plus a two-disc platinum edition meditation DVD equals AWESOME.

Winnie… er, I mean Danica, guest-starred on a few episodes of How I Met Your Mother. Since the show is about a guy looking for his unobtainable dream girl and is pitched at people who would have grown up watching The Wonder Years, having Winnie Cooper as Ted’s potential soul mate was perfect.

Kiss my Math on Amazon.

1 September 2008 - 03:04 | Tags: math, tv, winniecooper, thewonderyears