Simon Singh is a world famous science writer and educator, who has inspired a new generation to take up mathematics and physics. His major claim to fame is his documentary on Fermat’s last theorem and the subsequent book, which explores one of the most elusive questions in mathematics and its eventual solution.

The book regularly turns up in prospective mathematicians’ personal statements in order to tick the figurative box of “further reading”. All this being said, I study biology, and honesty had little clue as to who I was interviewing, or his impact on the geek world. After reading his latest book The Simpsons and their Mathematical Secrets I was keen to meet him, and was invited to join him for dinner before his talk.

Simon Singh walks into the restaurant accompanied by members of The Archimedeans and Cambridge University Physics Society, who are jointly hosting Singh’s talk later in the evening. They were such fans I struggled to get a word in during the meal.

I was immediately put on edge, and feared I was in line for an evening of small talk on the speed of stars relative to their distance from the universe’s centre – or whatever the more mathematically inclined talk about in their spare time. Luckily, I was mistaken in my assumption.

The conversation is varied. He talks briefly about his touring schedule, visiting one or two cities a day. It sounds hectic, though he seems excited to be promoting his new book.

Despite, quite literally, having a book's worth of new material to discuss, the conversation does not steer towards The Simpsons or to maths. Instead, Singh is surprisingly keen to talk about other things, including climate change. Before putting his own cards on the table, he asks everyone else about their views on climate change – does everyone agree with the consensus? Is climate change happening?  Is it man-made?

Many at the table are hesitant to respond, perhaps equivocal, maybe waiting for Singh to indicate if he is a warmist or a denialist? One member of the party even said: “We’re all just waiting to hear your opinion so we can fall behind it”. In case you’re wondering (though you’re probably not) I went with “it’s man-made”. Eventually Singh explains that he accepts the consensus, partly based on his limited knowledge of climate science, and partly because he suggests that non-experts are probably wise to listen to the experts. A third of the table still seems unconvinced, and Singh seems disappointed.

On the brief walk from the restaurant to the lecture theatre, there was some time to ask questions (seeing as I was there as a journalist, it seemed appropriate that I should do so). I asked about his favourite episodes of The Simpsons and Futurama. Unsurprisingly, these were Treehouse of Horror VI and The Honking respectively, maths-heavy episodes that feature heavily in his book.

When questioned on his views of Futurama coming to a close, he replied that he was optimistic for its return, citing its previous cancellations as a sign of hope. Even if it failed to come back, he was sure the writers would find a similarly geeky venture with which to entertain themselves. Researching the book, he went to America to meet and interview the writers.

Asked about the experience: "It was great spending a week with the writers of The Simpsons. Although the book is called The Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets, the writers have never deliberately hidden the maths in the series, but rather they have placed it in the background so it does not get in the way of the plot or the jokes. They are happy that at long last more people - include fellow nerds and geeks - will appreciate all the hard work they have put into the various episodes."

"On my last day with the writers, I asked them about 742, number of the house owned by Marge and Homer. It is neither a prime number, nor the product of two prime, nor a perfect number, nor an amicable number, nor a square number, nor a cube number. I just had to know, what is special about 742? One of the writers stared at me and said, 'Simon, 742 ... is... just a number!"

Finally, the lecture hall filled to the brim with physicists and mathematicians galore, I asked him that if he could have the answer to any question, what he would ask? Initially hesitant, he paused to ask whether everyone else would accept the validity of the answer given to him. Interested, I confirm that he could be assured of this (its only a theoretical question, and I wanted to see where he was going with it).

He said that he would want to know the average global temperature in 2100 if we continued burning fossil fuels at the current rate, in order that he could spread the presumably bad news. Without any quick fixes in sight, Singh is not optimistic about the next decade. He points out that the longer we ignore the climate change, the bigger the problem we will face. Perhaps this is a good topic for his next book.

This is a reviewed version of the article that appeared in print