# Does the show Big Bang Theory have accurate science? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 19, 2012, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-show-big-bang-theory-have-accurate-science/622443 "2012-05-19T17:25:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-show-big-bang-theory-have-accurate-science/622443/1 "2012-05-19T17:25:03Z")
Another thread mentioned this. Is it true? I was watching some episode and they mentioned some piece of scientific equipment and all I could think of was “it makes shoes for orphans.”\* \*Portal reference 😉 ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-show-big-bang-theory-have-accurate-science/622443/2 "2012-05-19T17:31:05Z")
Well. it does not really have much science at all. They occasionally mention scientific concepts, which are usually real things, but I would not rely on it in an exam. Do you have an example of “science” from it that you think might be bogus? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-show-big-bang-theory-have-accurate-science/622443/3 "2012-05-19T17:42:24Z")
Moved to Cafe Society, and typo in thread title corrected. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-show-big-bang-theory-have-accurate-science/622443/4 "2012-05-19T18:16:31Z")
I’ve never caught them in an untruth, myself. Howard’s engineering prowess is a little fantastical, but not outright impossible. Things like bouncing a radio signal off a reflector left on the moon by Apollo astronauts are indeed real. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-show-big-bang-theory-have-accurate-science/622443/5 "2012-05-19T18:35:01Z")
But what if they blow up the moon? ETA: On reflection that joke doesn’t work quite as well when the guy says “radio signal.” “Laser beam” is much better, imho. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-show-big-bang-theory-have-accurate-science/622443/6 "2012-05-19T19:03:28Z")
They also frequently have science fiction discussions that they treat with the same seriousness as real science. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-show-big-bang-theory-have-accurate-science/622443/7 "2012-05-19T19:16:28Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > They also frequently have science fiction discussions that they treat with the same seriousness as real science. Which is in character, since (some) real scientists do this as well. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-show-big-bang-theory-have-accurate-science/622443/8 "2012-05-19T19:16:39Z")
I believe they have a consultant to make sure the math on the whiteboards is correct. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-show-big-bang-theory-have-accurate-science/622443/9 "2012-05-19T19:21:40Z")
I would say flat out no, because guys who look like Galecki aren’t scientifically capable of mating with girls who look like Cuoco, but seeing as how apparently they really were an item for a while, it’s a case of truth being stranger than fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-show-big-bang-theory-have-accurate-science/622443/10 "2012-05-19T20:04:03Z")
This [blog](http://thebigblogtheory.wordpress.com/) talks quite a bit about the science of the show…they take it fairly seriously. -D/a ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-show-big-bang-theory-have-accurate-science/622443/11 "2012-05-19T21:56:56Z")
Even where they extrapolate, it’s usually in plausible directions. In one of the S1 episodes, for instance, Sheldon and Leonard discover (Sheldon predicting it, and Leonard experimentally confirming) a new quantum-mechanical effect, that causes some particles to have an anomolously high moment of inertia. Now, there is no such effect known, but it’s the sort of thing that wouldn’t really surprise any physicist. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-show-big-bang-theory-have-accurate-science/622443/12 "2012-05-19T22:34:39Z")
during season 1 the equations on (at least some) the white boards was supposed to be real and spanned episodes. i’ve never seen it compiled. ---
**Author:** ![Kal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kal)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-show-big-bang-theory-have-accurate-science/622443/13 "2012-05-19T22:39:51Z")
The science consultant is David Saltzberg, Professor of Physics and Astronomy at UCLA. His blog has already been linked to, but he was featured in an extra from the season 2 DVD which can be seen [here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTl1fA2sc6E) - [YouTube link]. ---
**Author:** ![williambaskerville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f14d63/32.png) [@williambaskerville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/williambaskerville)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-show-big-bang-theory-have-accurate-science/622443/14 "2012-05-20T08:12:07Z")
> [@Kal](#): > > The science consultant is David Saltzberg, Professor of Physics and Astronomy at UCLA. His blog has already been linked to, but he was featured in an extra from the season 2 DVD which can be seen [here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTl1fA2sc6E) - [YouTube link]. And Mayim Bialik, who plays Amy Farrah Fowler, has a real life doctorate in neuroscience. She apparently checks the the shows’s biology references. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-show-big-bang-theory-have-accurate-science/622443/15 "2012-05-21T00:21:03Z")
She’s a bit weird, though. Her doctorate is legit, and even comes from UCLA, which apparently has a top-notch neuroscience department, and yet she’s an anti-vaxxer who believes in homeopathy. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-show-big-bang-theory-have-accurate-science/622443/16 "2012-05-21T06:50:25Z")
A lot of it is pretty poor science. Case in point, the mars rover debacle. It’s [not really possible to drive it remotely in real time](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rover_%28space_exploration%29#Autonomy). The experimental rocket fuel they blew up the elevator with was not well explained, but was pretty weak. Robotic masturbation machines would be relatively easy to disable and get to release your manhood. Overall it’s not as bad as some shows, but that doesn’t mean it’s good. Enjoy, Steven ---
**Author:** ![Kal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kal)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-show-big-bang-theory-have-accurate-science/622443/17 "2012-05-21T15:57:44Z")
> [@Mtgman](#): > > Robotic masturbation machines would be relatively easy to disable and get to release your manhood. But the robotic hand was relativly easy to disable in the episode. The nurse simply rebooted it, something that - in his panic - Howard didn’t think about. ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-show-big-bang-theory-have-accurate-science/622443/18 "2012-05-21T16:35:19Z")
> [@Alan\_Smithee](#): > > She’s a bit weird, though. Her doctorate is legit, and even comes from UCLA, which apparently has a top-notch neuroscience department, and yet she’s an anti-vaxxer who believes in homeopathy. 😕 Crap. I just lost all respect for her, if that’s true. And she even learned the harp for those scenes. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-show-big-bang-theory-have-accurate-science/622443/19 "2012-05-22T05:01:26Z")
> [@Mtgman](#): > > … Robotic masturbation machines would be relatively easy to disable and get to release your manhood. And you know this …why? Dare we ask? ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-show-big-bang-theory-have-accurate-science/622443/20 "2012-05-22T06:35:40Z")
> [@Sister\_Vigilante](#): > > Crap. I just lost all respect for her, if that’s true. > > And she even learned the harp for those scenes. She’s thankfully not very vocal about them, but yeah, she was on NPR’s Science Friday recently, and Ira Flatow somewhat apologetically asked her about the vax thing. She confirmed that she didn’t get her kids vaccinated but said that she doesn’t like to talk about it because it’s an individual decision and she doesn’t want to tell other parents what to do about it. She also didn’t want it to distract from her primary message that [mothers should spend every minute both waking and sleeping in direct physical contact with their children.](http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Sling-Real-Life-Confident-Attachment/dp/145161800X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1337666188&sr=8-1) I did some searching after that and found her mentioning homeopathy in an interview as something that worked when she used it for birthing pain. Again, it’s not something she advocates, but she apparently believes in it.