The Science in the Series

Recently, I read an interesting article about outraged nerds demanding a change of the outdated definition of the term nerd. As it stands, the official translation according to the Oxford English Dictionary is “a foolish or contemptible person who lacks social skills or is boringly studious”. At a university such as this there is no shortage of nerds or people that may be considered boringly studious. Most Imperial students would probably join in this uproar against old-fashioned terminology that fails to convey the full meaning of what it means to be a nerd!

But the couch is simply too comfortable. Another, easier way of showing your support to this cause is to simply watch the right shows. As the number of viewers of nerd-approvedTV-series rise, our influence expands until finally nerds overthrow the market (and inherit the earth). By then someone with “more social skills” is bound to have presented our case for us.

But be aware, the untrained nerd might be drawn to watch fake-nerd shows. These are in actuality merely hipster-approved. A good example of such false advertisement is the show New Girl, starring Zooey Deschanel. This series fits under the outdated translation of nerd, as the main character in fact is a foolish and contemptible person. This proves just how hip it is to be a nerd, since even hipsters try to mimic our lifestyle but alas fail.

The beginning of true nerd-series started early on and focused mainly on science fiction, with Star Trek being the most obvious example. But there has been a second coming of the nerds on TV in which the spot light is on science and not science fiction. For the award of the best original series of the second nerd-era I would like to nominate Bones. This show started in 2005, which was notably two years prior to the big bang of The Big Bang Theory.

Bones is still going strong as its 8th season brings on new murder crimes that can only be solved by the forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance Brennan, aka Bones, and her invaluable team. The role of the highly intelligent and socially awkward main character is well played by Emily Deschanel, who coincidentally is the older sister of the previously trashed actress. For those of you who are new to this show, Bones is simply put a female version of Sheldon Cooper in The Big Bang Theory, as she constantly and brutally reminds her co-workers about their intellectual inferiority. Equipped with empirical reasoning and intimate knowledge of bones, she studies the remains of victims and deducts the cause of death. Her counterpart is the emotional and temperamental FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth, starring David Boreanaz. The central theme in the early seasons revolves around the sexual tension between Bones and Booth, which reaches its pinnacle in season 5. After that point the viewers can be expected to be slightly disappointed if they were only interested in this couple.

Luckily, viewers need not fret as Bones has a full nerd squad by her side, known as squints. These supporting actors impressively demonstrate the wonders of interdisciplinary science, but more importantly brings humor and additional relationship intrigues to the show. There is the “bug and slime” guy, Hodgins, who is fanatical about the insects that infest victim remains. He is partnered with Angela, the group’s self-trained computer wiz and reconstruction artist. Their boss, Cam, deals with matters of the flesh, whereas the FBI psychologist Dr. Sweets deals with matters of the mind, or “soft sciences” as Bones calls it. In addition there are plenty of funny intern squints that are replaced on a seasonal basis, which makes every episode unique.

As with most nerd-shows, the depiction of science is not always correct. The cleanliness of the Smithsonian laboratory clearly shows ignorance of the chaos most scientists are used to. But they do get some things right – Hodgins likes to blow things up in the name of science as we all do at Imperial. This quirky show shines a light on science and the vast variety of nerds without coming across as boring or studious.