In anticipation of Bender's Big Score (aka new Futurama) making its television debut this weekend (Sunday 8pm/7c) isn't it time you brush up on the hardest of the hard-core math references from the series?

Sure, it's common knowledge that head writer David X. Cohen holds a bachelor's degree in physics from Harvard University and a master's degree in computer science from UC Berkeley. But did you know that staff writer Ken Keeler has a PhD in applied math, also from Harvard? You did? Nerd.

If you're not one of the legions of Futurama enthusiasts with dual degrees in physics and engineering, you owe it to yourself to check out Dr. Sarah J. Greenwald's Futurama Math page, which collects and explains every math reference in academic detail.

 For example, ever wonder why Bender's serial number is 1729? Here's the quick and dirty:

 "The number 1729 is sometimes referred to as the "Ramanujan-Hardy" number. One day (Godfrey Harold) Hardy took a cab to visit (Srinivāsa) Ramanujan and commented that his taxicab number, 1729, was dull. Ramanujan quickly replied that 1729 was in fact a very interesting number since it is the smallest number that can be written as the sum of two cubes in two different ways, as 9^3 + 10^3 and 1^3 + 12^3."

Hey, to some of us, that reference is HILARIOUS. Bite my shiny metal, meatbag.