Over the course of five seasons of Breaking Bad we've learned how to cook the purest meth, melt metal locks, chemically dispose of bodies, cook untraceable poison, wipe computers and more just from watching genius chemist Walter White work his magic. In most of those instances, he has to break down the scientific methods step by step for his occasionally dim-witted parter Jesse, and of course, the audience—at least those of us who aren't chemically inclined. Those who are routinely credit the show with getting more facts right than the average TV drama.
To cook up (pun intended) all of Walt's science-nerd jargon, creator Vince Gilligan and his writer's room routinely look to Donna J. Nelson, a professor of organic chemistry at the University of Oklahoma. In an interview with Scientific American, Nelson revealed that she became the show's scientific advisor by responding to an ad they placed in Chemical & Engineering News during season one. Since then she's walked them through everything from the concept of precursor to meth synthesizing—her cook game is allegedly just as mythically pure as Walt's.
But don't get excited just yet, aspiring meth cooks. Vince and the team also have a DEA agent advising them on which steps to omit from the final scripts, lest someone use Walt's formula to flourish like Heisenberg in real life. Read Nelson's full interview here.
RELATED: I Wish I Hadn't Binge-Watched Breaking Bad
RELATED: FOMO: The Fear of Missing Out (on "Breaking Bad")
RELATED: The 10 Best "Breaking Bad" Episodes (So Far)
[via Scientific American]
