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ence as required. For example, in the first season, when the four guys buy a Making a Big Bang on the small screen model of a time machine, Saltzberg wrote the equations for theoretical A TV sitcom with two physicists as its central characters has proved an time travel using wormholes on the whiteboard in their apartment. In sea- unlikely hit with viewers in both the US and the UK. Nick Thomas talks to son two, the writers wanted a science the cast and the creators about the secrets of its success project for Leonard to show his mother when she came to visit him While the quality of some TV sitcoms at the lab. Saltzberg suggested that can leave viewers feeling cheated out Leonard talks about the DAMA pro- of 30 minutes of their lives, audiences ject at the Gran Sasso laboratory in and critics are raving about the sci- Abruzzo, Italy, which searches for ence-themed US comedy The Big what constitutes dark matter. Bang Theory. First shown on the CBS Saltzberg is even on the set for the network in 2007, the series focuses on shooting of most episodes; so, if any two brilliant postdoc physicists, Leo- technical questions do come up, he is nard and Sheldon, who are totally ab- on hand to answer them immediately. sorbed by science. Adhering to the Warner Bros Television Entertainment After colleagues and viewers wanted stereotype, they also share a fanatical to know more about the show’s sci- interest in science fiction, video-ga- ence, Saltzberg started a blog in time ming and comic books, but unfortu- for the third season in September 2009 nately lack the social skills required to called the thebigblogtheory to explain connect with their 20-something non- the science behind each new episode. academic contemporaries. “One of the roles of a university is The Big Bang Theory is now in its to reach back into the community and third season, with a fourth already give people a glimpse at what we are commissioned by CBS. The show has doing,” says Saltzberg. “With 13 mil- also aired in the UK on Channel 4, lion viewers watching a sitcom that while last month E4, Channel 4’s digi- references current physics research, tal network, started showing the third maybe the show will do for physics season. Despite a dialogue peppered what Indiana Jones did for enrolment with references to physics and ma- in archaeology departments!” thematics (and, to a lesser extent, bio- Jan Hall from the University of Co- logy and chemistry), over 13 million lorado, who shared the 2005 Nobel US and 1 million UK viewers have Prize for Physics with Roy Glauber been tuning in to follow the adven- and Theodor Hänsch for their work tures of Leonard and Sheldon, to- on quantum optics and laser spec- gether with their buddies, fellow troscopy, is another for whom The Big physicist Raj and engineer Howard, Bang Theory is his favourite TV pro- and their “normal” neighbour, Penny. gramme. “My wife gave me the first Set mostly in the characters’ apart- Stars of the show began noticing that the whiteboards season on DVD as a Christmas pre- ment complex in Pasadena, Califor- Top, from left to in the background of scenes actually sent in 2008 and we have been nia, Penny, played by Kaley Cuoco, is right, Raj, Howard, showed accurate physics equations. cracked up laughing ever since,” says a wannabe actress who hangs out with Leonard and Sheldon “There was a good first-order calcu- Hall. “The science chatter is mostly her geeky neighbours. Although she build a robot to enter lation of W-boson branching func- accurate, providing a technical back- has no understanding of their re- a fighting-robot tions, plus some well-drawn quark drop to the interplay of personalities. search, the “guys”, in turn, generally competition. Bottom, flow and Feynman diagrams,” he says. Each individual is appealing in spe- fail to fit into her pop-culture-centred Penny and Sheldon Getting the science right is almost cific ways and contributes to the over- world, and therein lies much of the examine high-energy- unheard of in TV land, but series cre- all effect – it’s just so damn funny!” show’s comedic appeal. physics equations in ator, writer and executive producer, As a result of Saltzberg’s input, Kunal Nayyar, 28, who plays Raj, his apartment. Chuck Lorre, says that accuracy is Lorre says that the reception from felt the show was destined to become important to the show. “It is those the scientific community has been a hit early in the first season. “The details that colour the tone of the largely positive but that the show also writing was brilliant and the show show and contribute to its popularity, appeals to audiences outside the sci- was funny, but it wasn’t just about a so we have a real physicist for help in entific world. “It’s not just a show bunch of scientists making jokes,” that area,” he told Physics World. about science. It’s also about the char- says Nayyar. “The characters were That “real” physicist is astrophy- acters’ lives – their families, friends, going through life and trying to fit in. sicist David Saltzberg from the Uni- hopes and romantic relationships,” I think many people have probably versity of California, Los Angeles says Lorre. felt like that at some point in their (UCLA). The producers first con- lives and can relate to it.” tacted Saltzberg to see if he knew of Physics 101 any graduate students who could The idea for The Big Bang Theory Big impact advise the show, but he saw the job as sprang from co-creator Bill Prady’s One fan of The Big Bang Theory is Jeff being a lot of fun and took up the offer experiences working as a computer Tseng, a particle physicist from Ox- for himself. Before the acting starts, programmer in New York in the ford University in the UK, who stum- Saltzberg receives scripts about a 1980s. Lorre says Prady worked with bled upon the show accidentally and month in advance and fills in the sci- people who were clearly very intelli-

12 Physics World January 2010 physicsworld.com News & Analysis gent, but who were completely lost characters, there were people from when it came to the mundane things all cultures, female physicists, and in daily life. It was a paradox, and a even the cool surfer physicist, with terrific idea for a series. bleached blonde hair, sunglasses, “We wanted to avoid a show that shorts and sandals.” Galecki adds that was set in the world of computing – he and Parsons have also read a lot of the computer-geek theme sounded popular science and watched science too tired,” explains Lorre. “So we put documentaries on TV. “You just try the characters in a setting of pure re- and surround yourself with the things search.” Building a sitcom around Warner Bros Television Entertainment your character would be interested in. physicists, rather than any other dis- For an actor, you research your role cipline, was, for Lorre, an obvious to gain confidence and hope the audi- choice. “There was just something ence will find you credible.” fascinating about a show that looks Simon Helberg, 28, who plays How- at the world through physics and ma- ard, says the show’s popularity sug- thematics. These guys are trying to gests that the cast has successfully unravel the secrets of the universe – created extreme but believable char- that’s pretty big! You’re not going to acters. “Unlike their research, there do that with biology or chemistry.” John Mather for their work on the Leading lights are no equations these guys can for- In an interview with Physics World, anisotropy of the cosmic microwave Physicist David mulate to help them understand the actor Johnny Galecki, 34, who plays background (CMB) radiation, a Saltzberg from world outside the lab. But they some- Leonard, says he and the cast con- whiteboard during that episode con- the University of how manage to muddle through the stantly receive positive comments tained a diagram of a differential California, Los more mundane aspects of life.” Al- from teachers and scientists. “We got radiometer that was used in the dis- Angeles (left) and though the characters may seem a letter from Isaac Asimov’s daughter covery of the CMB radiation. executive producer quirky and stereotyped, Saltzberg telling us how much she liked the To prepare for their roles, Galecki and co-creator believes the show demonstrates the show,” he said during a break in re- says he and Jim Parsons, who plays Bill Prady (right). joy that scientists have for their work. hearsals. “George Smoot even wrote Sheldon, visited the physics depart- “The characters are extreme and have to us asking if he could be on the show, ment at UCLA with Saltzberg. “Our their flaws, but that’s necessary for the and he appeared in a season-two biggest lesson was that scientists are a comedy to work,” he says. “The char- episode. He was quite a character!” diverse bunch,” says Galecki. “While acters have a real passion for science, As a tribute to Smoot, who shared we saw some people who were some- but that’s not made fun of – I see that the 2006 Nobel Prize for Physics with what like the Leonard and Sheldon as being celebrated in the show.”

Royal Society turns 350 as new Hawking portrait is unveiled

Despite retiring last autumn from the position of Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University, Stephen Hawking does Royal Society not seem to be disappearing from the limelight. In August he travelled to the US to accept a presidential medal of freedom from President Barack Obama. Now, this portrait has been unveiled by Hawking himself at the Royal Society in London. It was painted by the British-born artist Tai-Shan Schierenberg, 47, who has four other works down the road at the National Portrait Gallery, including one of the poet Seamus Heaney. Hawking has been a fellow of the Royal Society since 1974 and published a paper on black holes with Roger Penrose in 1970 in one of the society’s journals (Proc. R. Soc. A 314 529). It is one of 60 “trailblazing” papers selected from the society’s archives as part of its 350th anniversary celebrations (see trailblazing. royalsociety.org). Other special events being held this year include a nine-day science festival at London’s Southbank Centre from 26 June to 4 July and the opening of the new Kavli Royal Society International Centre for the Advancement of Science at Chicheley Hall in Buckinghamshire, which will let scientists discuss big ideas through two-day meetings. Matin Durrani

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