The Problem With 'NUMB3RS'

By XIAO-BO YUAN

Sarah J. Greenwald, an associate professor of mathematics at Appalachian State University, is no stranger to popular culture. She runs Web sites that track math references in The Simpsons and Futurama, two smart cartoons that have alluded to subjects like "hyperbolic topology," and she even knows that five writers for The Simpsons have math-related...