science

The Jiminy Conjecture

The Jiminy Conjecture is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand The Jiminy Conjecture rather than just read about it. In short: "The Jiminy Conjecture" is the second episode of the third season of the American television sitcom The Big Bang Theory. It first aired on CBS in the United States on September 28, 2009.

Key takeaways

The Jiminy Conjecture belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect The Jiminy Conjecture to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of The Jiminy Conjecture from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

"The Jiminy Conjecture" is the second episode of the third season of the American television sitcom The Big Bang Theory. It first aired on CBS in the United States on September 28, 2009. It is the 42nd episode overall. The episode features a guest appearance by American comedian Lewis Black.

Plot Sheldon, Raj and Howard are at the comic book store and are surprised to see Leonard arrive, expecting him to be having sex with Penny. After Howard and Raj question Leonard, he characterizes their sex as "just fine" and "not bad, but not great". Later, Howard and Raj mock him about it, which causes Sheldon to explain to Penny what Leonard said. She leaves in embarrassment, with Leonard following her. He tries to justify his actions and asks her how she found the sex. When she characterizes it as "okay", they decide that discussing the problem will not make it better and decide to get very drunk before having sex. Unfortunately, they both end up constantly vomiting. Meanwhile, Howard and Sheldon get involved in an argument about the species of a cricket they can hear from the apartment. Sheldon insists it is a snowy tree cricket while Howard maintains that it is a common field cricket. They decide to make a bet, Sheldon staking his "Flash of Two Worlds" against Howard's Fantastic Four #48. After thoroughly searching the apartment, Sheldon climbs down the elevator shaft in the hallway and his flashlight's battery runs out. Howard and Raj hear the cricket and check the stairwell, leaving Sheldon in a darkened elevator shaft. They find the cricket and argue over a name, with Raj and Howard calling it "Toby" and Sheldon wanting to call it "Jiminy". They fail to identify the species, even with an insect guide. They settle the bet by taking the cricket to Professor Crawley, Caltech's depressed entomologist, who has just lost funding for his lab. Howard is proven correct since it is a common field cricket, much to Sheldon's disappointment. Soon after, Sheldon talks to Penny, and he tells her that she and Leonard can always go back to being friends. When he mentions to Leonard that he spoke to Penny about their sex life, he goes over to talk to her. They decide to just be friends, but it is clear that neither really wants that and they quickly start kissing.

Reception On the night of its first broadcast on September 28, 2009, the episode was watched by 13.27 million households. Based on Nielsen ratings, the episode received an 8.0 rating/12 share. Between viewers aged between 18 and 49, it received a 5.3 rating/13 share. The TV Critic rated the episode 58 out of 100, stating that it was "a decent episode", but also describing it as "enjoyable" and "simple". Emily VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club complimented Sheldon's carefully chosen vocabulary and the cricket storyline, she criticized the plot between Leonard and Penny. Overall, the episode was rated a B. James Chamberlin of IGN described it as "one of The Big Bang Theory's funniest episodes", rating it 8.7 out of 10.

References

External links "The Jiminy Conjecture" at CBS.com "The Jiminy Conjecture" at IMDb

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with The Jiminy Conjecture

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what The Jiminy Conjecture claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to The Jiminy Conjecture before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about The Jiminy Conjecture ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of The Jiminy Conjecture

In research: The Jiminy Conjecture appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses The Jiminy Conjecture in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: The Jiminy Conjecture is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2009 American television episodes, The Big Bang Theory episodes, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for The Jiminy Conjecture outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study The Jiminy Conjecture in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what The Jiminy Conjecture means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain The Jiminy Conjecture out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is The Jiminy Conjecture in simple terms?

"The Jiminy Conjecture" is the second episode of the third season of the American television sitcom The Big Bang Theory. It first aired on CBS in the United States on September 28, 2009.

Why does The Jiminy Conjecture matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study The Jiminy Conjecture?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on The Jiminy Conjecture.