The Exchange

Girls just want to have sums. Or is it fun? Actually, why can’t it be both? Stereotypes plague math – difficult, boring - and girls who love math – they don’t exist. But several female television and film characters are defying both stereotypes.

Have you seen it? Okay, there’s no such show called “Science: The Musical.” Not yet, anyway. But writing, performing, and recording songs about science isn’t as uncommon as it sounds. Actually, we’re willing to bet you’ve heard more than a few—though you may not have realized it.

One science tune is currently being heard every week by several million people: “The History of Everything,” also known as the theme song for the hit television show The Big Bang Theory. The song, penned and performed by the Barenaked Ladies, details the entire history of universe in 1 minute, 46 seconds. If you think that’s brief, the theme song is an even briefer 32 seconds. “The creators Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady were big fans of the band and they called,” remembers Barenaked Ladies’ singer/guitarist Ed Robertson.

Chances are, when you think of Cher, the iconic recording artist, you also think of geophysics. Okay, maybe you don’t. But you should. Cher and geophysics revolutionized the recording industry – together.

It started in 1998, when Cher released her single “Believe.” The song was a major success, sitting at #1 on the Billboard charts for four straight weeks. It also featured a new, and peculiar, effect on Cher’s vocals: at key moments, her voice wobbled uncontrollably, like a robot attempting karaoke. The description sounds cringe-inducing, but combined with the song’s fast-paced beat, it sounds, well, good. Good enough to be adopted by Madonna, Janet Jackson – even rappers T. Pain and Kanye West. The “Cher effect” (as it became known) was soon a staple of the recording industry, a distortion process reinvented as an artistic choice.

On October 23^rd and 24^th, the National Mall in Washington, DC will be buzzing with scientists and engineers, and you’re invited to join them. From 10am to 5:30pm (both Saturday and Sunday), the inaugural USA Science & Engineering Festival is celebrating science and engineering with over 1,500 hands-on activities and 75 stage-shows and performances.

The Exchange will be joining in on the fun, along with NAS, NAE, IOM and NRC, in the “Because Dreams Need Doing” tent for two days of not-to-be-missed exhibits and performances. Learn to “Be a Bone Detective” using fried chicken, take a distracted-driving simulator test or see real props from Disney’s TRON: Legacy, whatever floats your scientific boat.