HISTORY
The Comic Character Ate Spinach Due to A Misplaced Decimal Point
It’s the mathematical error that went unchecked for 67 years.
When we rewind the past and flip the pages of childhood, we will find ourselves greeting our favorite fun-time animated shows. Occupying a significant part of our delicately beautiful days, the mere thought of watching cartoons made us go crazy. Until today, these shows remain etched in our memories and brings a smile on our face.
The majority of us remember how much of the excuses we made, completed our homework in a rush, dreamt in schools about which cartoon series is on the watching list. At times we even wrestled with our loving parents only to binge-watch our favorite animated shows.
We impatiently waited to switch on the television and enjoy engaging with our favorite characters, whether Tom & Jerry, The Simpsons, Mickey Mouse, and more. These cartoon characters employed the wittiest humor, sometimes the complex themes, and covered heartfelt stories that hooked people from all age groups. The teenagers and adults remained the prime audience who, under its influence, told powerful, relatable, and hilarious narratives that existed within the realm of animation.
One of my favorite animated series and comic character is Popeye, The Sailor Man! And when it comes to our lovable Popeye, how can we miss out on his health-boosting secret — the green leafy vegetable, Spinach. We all know how much the adorable Popeye who debuted in 1929 loved the vegetable Spinach. Often in the troubling times, he jumped to eat Spinach in tremendous amounts that raised his strength.
But the important questions are —
- Why Popeye loved only Spinach?
- Why was he so obsessed, particularly with this leafy vegetable?
- Did Spinach come with magical power? or
- Was Popeye fooling us?
As it turns out, the answer is born out of one of the simplest mathematical errors in history. Many of us in our habitual lives also commit trivial mistakes that unfortunately remain embedded in the human system. Nevertheless, each mistake leaves teachings that eventually add to the brownie points.
A scientist and mathematician, Samuel Arbesman, in his book “The Half-life of Facts: Why Everything We Know Has an Expiration Date,” illustrates how scientific errors can give birth to popular myths. He debunked the Popeye mythology through an intriguing story of a calculation error that aroused the misconception of Spinach’s exceptionally rich iron content.
In 1870, Erich von Wolf, the German chemist, examined the amount of iron present in Spinach and other green vegetables. In recording his findings, Wolf correctly ascertained the amount of iron in Spinach, but he accidentally misplaced a decimal point while transcribing data from his notebook.
The slight mistake made Spinach the super-hero among all leafy vegetables and turned Popeye into our legendary health coach. The incorrect value mentioned that Spinach’s iron content appears to be ten times more than reality.
Instead of recording the actual value that Spinach had 3.5 milligrams of iron per 100-gram serving (as is the case), Wolf wrote that it had 35 milligrams. To put this in the proper perspective, if the calculations remained correct, then a 100-gram serving of Spinach would be comparable to eating a small piece of a paper clip.
Once the incorrect calculation got printed, the Spinach’s nutritional value turned legendary. The decimal error aroused the popular misconception that Spinach is extremely rich in iron, strengthening the body. Perhaps this is why the studio executives who created the comic character Popeye chose Spinach as the superfood that gave Popeye his desired muscular strength.
It is also worldly believed that Popeye helped increase spinach intake in the American people by a third. He remained hailed as the hero who encouraged healthy eating habits among the masses. Studies revealed that children consumed more Spinach after watching the Popeye cartoon.
Down the time, the mathematical error committed by Wolf was corrected in 1937 when someone rechecked his numerical data. Furthermore, the British Medical Journal in 1981 published an article that tried its best to debunk the spinach myth.
That said, the eminent scientist Samuel Arbesman uses the Popeye story to outline how humans tend to ignore re-examining the shreds of evidence and fact-check it again. Both the human ego and chronic propensity for shortcuts make people lazy towards examining the facts. Furthermore, it instills fear that makes them step back from owning up to their mistakes or even admitting if they unintentionally remained blinded or wronged.
In human civilization, the myths spread like wildfire, much greater than the speed of light. The reason remains our sole negligence or our indeterministic approach in not diving in deeply and researching the subject matter and its findings thoroughly. The philosophy behind these human tendencies arises from the place that lacks curiosity, critical thinking, and a clear vision to examine information based on facts, reasoning, and logical deduction.
At times, the errors and myths like that of Popeye’s Spinach reveal why both science and philosophy need each other’s mutual support so that it can help formulate righteous conclusions. The rational approach resides in the spirit of questioning, curiosity, of critical inquiry combined with fact-checking.
Although Spinach’s iron content calculations were an error, this green leafy vegetable still occupies a core place in our dietary consumption. It helps our lifestyle run smoothly. Not only is Spinach loaded with immense nutritional values, but it also adds to less calorie intake that otherwise can lead to serious health outcomes, obesity being one among the many. When it’s about adding fiber to our diet, then again, eating Spinach, whether raw or cooked, helps.
The comic character Popeye foremostly deserves the credit for popularising Spinach all across the globe. Chances are, like our dearly Popeye, by eating Spinach, you can also develop muscular forearms, become even stronger, and knock down the diseases that are planning to meet you on your way. It’s also likely that similar to Popeye, by consuming Spinach, you can discover creative solutions to fix your problems in troubled times or in general life as well.
