Grood, Cheryl. (2022). The Futurama Theorem. In S. Bowen (Ed.), Math Circle Activity Database. American Institute of Mathematics. https://mathcircles.org/activity/The-Futurama-Theorem
The Futurama Theorem
Contributor(s): Cheryl Grood
Math Circles: MTC Network, Philadelphia Area Math Teachers’ Circle
In the television show Futurama, Professor Farnsworth and Amy decide to try out their newly finished “Mind-Switcher” invention on themselves. When they try to switch back, they discover a key flaw in the machine’s design: it will not allow the same pair of bodies to be used in the machine more than once. Is there a way to restore their minds back to their original bodies?
The Futurama theorem is a real-life mathematical theorem invented by Futurama writer Ken Keeler (who holds a PhD in applied mathematics), purely for use in the Season 6 episode “The Prisoner of Benda”.
Activity Guide
This guide looks at the activity in detail and goes into the underlying math.
