Did anyone else spot the Poincaré conjecture reference on Monday’s episode of Aaron Sorkin’s excellent Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip? (Recall that I mentioned another science reference on this show in an earlier post.) A writer is trying to find a punchline to a joke. The joke is supposed to be in the style of the headline news on Saturday Night Live…
The joke begins “In science news, Dr Grigory Perelman solved an intractable mathematical problem known as the Poincaré conjecture by successfully inventing a formula that proves that a rabbit is a sphere…”
He struggles for a while with it. Other issues in the episode intervene…
We never hear what the punchline is…
Nice.
-cvj
It appears that it will be put aside temporarily for The Black Donnellys, which looks like it will be utter toilet, then come back at the arse-end of the season and rumour has it that it won’t reappear. Although nothing’s final until it’s final, I guess.
Really?
That’s a shame, but I am not surprised. The show is just too well-written and downright clever for network tv. It’s “Sportsnight” all over again. Sigh. Well, I hope he keeps on doing this sort of thing, keeping the standard high.
-cvj
Studio60 is probably not going to see a second season, I gather.
Albrect Durer’s “magic square” may also be an interesting comparison about how these points can move within space? I like to keep it in my index to remember “Prof.dr R.H. Dijkgraaf’s second rendition,” and thesis image can reveal in a “question mark of some significance?”:) You have to take time for this.
If you like “symmetry in license plates” then you will like this?:)
Black holes with Spherical topology, of course! Brilliant!
Now if they did *that* on Studio 60, even though I’m already very much a fan of the writing on the show, I’d be beside myself with joy!
-cvj
So maybe the poncaire conjecture relates to the “no hare” theorems about black holes ? !
elliot
Yeah, I caught that. Studio 60 is a good show with a lot of off-hand high-minded comments like that. I actually started watching it because my neighbor works on the show(she’s a script supervisor); I guess that’s one of the interesting things about living in the LA area.
Next, we just have to adapt the Perelman saga as a season of 24.