The Big Bang Theory revolved around two things: science and friendship. With Sheldon, Leonard, Raj, and Howard being scientists, they brought their passion to life through experiments, deep conversation, and findings. It's thanks to their knowledge of the sciences that fans learned a thing or two on various topics.
Whether it was how to fold clothes or a scientific theory that isn't brought up in day-to-day life, The Big Bang Theory was as educational as it was humorous. The men used scientific jargon, which could be hard to follow at times, but they broke it down for Penny and audiences.
Updated on August 30th, 2022, by Lynn Gibbs: Sheldon, Howard, Raj, and Leonard taught viewers a lot about life and the sciences throughout 12 seasons of The Big Bang Theory. Sheldon was the kind of person who loved to educate those around him, even though they never asked to be taught. Coincidentally, viewers learned a lot from the series. Whether it was about the history of a cookie or how to fold clothes, TBBT was just as informational as funny.
Here's How To Fold Clothes
It wasn't just physics that fans learned from TBBT, simple things like doing laundry made Reddit's list as well. ZeroBubble423 told Reddit that the one thing they learned from the show is "best to fold a t-shirt."
In the scene, Sheldon and Penny are in the laundry room where Sheldon is using a contraption to fold his t-shirts. Knowing Sheldon only does things to perfection, fans learned that they waste too much time folding shirts manually when they can just use a T-shirt folder. Even though Sheldon's friends don't think he makes sense half the time, this is one task that does.
Thinking Before Speaking
There are plenty of memes that perfectly sum up Sheldon’s personality. A theme among these memes was Sheldon’s inability to say the right things at the right time. Sheldon had a hard time recognizing sarcasm and didn’t know what the right thing to say was during hard times.
Because of this, AyAyThroio said, “I have learnt it is not always good to say things that come to mind,” thanks to Sheldon’s silly mishaps. While Sheldon was typically right, that didn’t mean the situation called for his opinion.
You Can Have Brains & Beauty
One of the saddest things about Amy was when she won the Nobel Prize and became insecure after seeing her image in the press. She always cared more about her intelligence than her looks, but she was now in a realm where both mattered to her.
Amy had a few disagreements over the years with Penny and Bernadette about the combination of brains and beauty, and it was those conversations that taught Redditor EntertainmentOk4802 something about both. They wrote, “You can be a nerd/socially awkward and still get the good-looking girl. We all need to find our Amy.” Amy proved that a woman can be both gorgeous and brilliant.
All About Non-Newtonian Fluid
In the second season, there was a scene where the men combined corn starch and water and placed it on top of plastic wrap and a speaker. When they turned on the music, the combination of ingredients danced and looked a lot like Flubber.
Sheldon told Penny, “They make up a non-Newtonian Fluid, which is liquid but solid under the percussive action of the speaker.” Penny found it cool but wasn’t as interested in it as the men were. IronicallyIvyLass learned a lot from this scene, writing, “Non-Newtonian fluid is really cool. Even physicists can get stuck (the one at the brain bowl where the Russian scientist/janitor was the only one who solved it).”
Here’s What Bathroom Stall To Use
Beverly Hofstadter had some of the best quotes on TBBT. Her dry delivery was hilarious, even though she wasn’t trying to be funny. In one episode, she, Sheldon, and Leonard had a conversation about choosing the right bathroom stall to use when in public.
Apocalyds_ learned from this episode and wrote, “Every time I got into a public restroom with multiple stalls, I choose the middle stall because of that conversation Sheldon and Leonard's mom have.” They later included the script from the moment to prove what they learned.
Leonard: That was fast.
Beverly Hofstadter: Oh, the middle stall was occupied. I'll have to try again later.
Sheldon: That's totally understandable. In bladder voiding, as in real estate, it's location, location, location.
The Archimedes Principle
Sheldon mentioned the Greek mathematician Archimedes on multiple occasions. His principles and inventions inspired multiple discoveries, which can be hard to understand at times.
PeaceAndPawws admitted, “I could never understand the Archimedes principal in school but Sheldon made it fun.” Sheldon explained the Principle of Displacement in season 4 (using bath water as an example) and he and Leonard mentioned Archimedes' foundations while moving furniture in season 1.
The History Of Fig Newtons
When Penny started dating Leonard, she didn't like feeling left out regarding "sciencey" things. She asked Sheldon if he could teach her a "little physics," but Sheldon wasn't able to teach her the basics. He had to go back to the beginning of how physics was founded. These two were some of the best character pairings because of their differences.
Ryan_Benjamin noted that they too learned something from Sheldon. "Fig Newtons are named after the town in Massachusetts, not the scientist," they wrote. In the scene, Penny and Sheldon's chemistry was off the charts as they tried to understand each other. Penny noted that Sir Isaac Newton was a "smart cookie" and then wondered if his name inspired the cookie. But, Sheldon taught the audience that Fig Newtons were named after a town in Massachusetts.
A Simple Way To Clean Belt Bucks
It was rare that Howard and Sheldon find common ground, but, when Howard started working with Professor Stephen Hawking, he knew that Sheldon would want the opportunity to meet or work with him.
Before Howard introduced the two, he made Sheldon do a long list of chores for him. One of them was cleaning his belt buckles. Nyawk told Reddit that they learned the best way to clean belt buckles was by using "Turtle wax" because "the pee just rolls off." In the episode, Sheldon told Howard, "I, uh, buffed them with turtle wax. The man down at Pep Boys says that from now on, the urine should just bead up and roll right off."
The Definition Of Schrödinger's Cat
At the start of Leonard and Penny's relationship timeline, they were both nervous to go on their first date because they didn't want to ruin the friendship they had created. Penny and Leonard both went to Sheldon for advice, where he explained Schrödinger's Cat.
Schrödinger's Cat explained a theoretical experiment with a cat, a box, and a radioactive liquid, and, in short, the scientist would never know what happened to the cat until they opened the box to look. In short, Penny and Leonard would never know what their relationship would be unless they tried. This experiment taught both vap0r-32 and AyAyThroio a thing or two about Erwin Schrödinger's thinking.
The Doppler Effect
One of Sheldon's funniest scenes was when he dove into his humorous side and dressed as the Doppler Effect for Halloween. While everyone else was dressed up as characters or fictional beings, Sheldon was a frequency shift.
Throughout the night, Sheldon explained the Doppler Effect to Penny's guests, but it fell on uninterested listeners. Irena089, however, admitted that they learned the Doppler Effect from TBBT. PotatorAid even wrote, "My physics teacher used [The] Big Bang Theory to explain the Doppler Effect" in class.
Popsicle Sticks
In 'The Solo Oscillation,' Leonard and Amy thought it would be fun to recreate some of their old science fair experiments. One of their experiments included building a wave out of popsicle sticks. The two wanted to see how high they could get the wave. For fans, watching Amy's character arc grow as she hung out with Leonard was exciting for her personal growth, as she finally had friends that appreciated her brain.
Nevertheless, Joonky told Reddit that this experiment was eye-opening for them. "When Leonard and Amy flip the connected popsicle sticks making a rolling wave was a very cool, 'oh, wow!' moment," they wrote.
The Type Of Tense And Prepositions
The topic of proper grammar has been brought up multiple times throughout The Big Bang Theory. In 'The Focus Attenuation,' the men talked about the different tenses used in the movie, Back to the Future.
The conversation was wildly talked about in a Reddit thread. Cortexstack found another resource from Douglas Adams that explained it best: "The major problem is simply one of grammar, and the main work to consult in this matter is Dr. Dan Streetmentioner's Time Traveler's Handbook of 1001 Tense Formations," Adams wrote. Likewise, other users discussed ending a sentence with the use of a preposition, which Sheldon and Amy detested. The user wrote that they "Never learned the rule" before, which made them learn something new.
The Reality About Vitamins
When Sheldon and Penny went grocery shopping, Sheldon judged Penny for going to the vitamin wall and browsing the selection. Sheldon didn't think it made sense for Penny to buy vitamins because "the body can only absorb so much."
Cheddar404 wrote that they learned about vitamins from Sheldon and quoted what he said to Penny after the fact, "What you're buying here are the ingredients for very expensive urine." In this case, physics wasn't the only thing Sheldon taught viewers.
A Mexican Standoff
In 'The Helium Insufficiency,' Leonard and Sheldon tried to beat other scientists from proving their Superfluid Helium theory. To do their experiment, they had to buy liquid helium from a stranger online. The act was illegal, so it wasn't Leonard's best career decision, but he did it in the name of science.
When the dealer, Leonard, and Sheldon couldn't agree on the financial amount, the stranger noted that they were at a "stalemate." However, Sheldon explained that "stalemate" wasn't the right term —neither was an impasse or Mexican standoff. Because of Sheldon's breakdown of the three terms, WhiteWidow88 learned that "A Mexican standoff is a face-off between any number of people (not 1) in which no party can leave unharmed."
The Use Of Conditioning
In one episode, Sheldon grew tired of Penny always being around their apartment. To get her to be an easier guest in his home, he gave her chocolates for the things he found positive.
When she did the dishes or did something helpful, he gave her chocolate. Penny doing nice things for chocolate perfectly summed up her character. MyKidIsOnHere told Reddit, "My psychology teacher used the episode where Sheldon reinforces good behavior from Penny with chocolates to help us understand conditioning." Leonard compared the art of rewarding Penny with a treat to what they do with lab rats.