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Martin Gardner (born October 21, 1914) is an American recreational mathematician and author of the long-running but now discontinued 'Mathematical Games' column in Scientific American.
Interests and writings
Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Martin Gardner more or less singlehandedly sustained and nurtured interest in recreational mathematics
for most of the 20th century. He is best known for his decades-long efforts
in popular mathematics and science journalism. His interests are wide, ranging from science and philosophy to magic and the skeptical movement associated with
James Randi. He lives in Norman, Oklahoma.
Occasional conferences of people sharing his interests, known as the Gatherings for Gardner, are held in his honour.
The first was held in 1993.
In his Mathematical Games column in Scientific American,
he introduced many subjects to a wider audience, including:
He is the author or editor of more than 100 books and booklets, including books on mathematics, science, philosophy, literary criticism, and fiction.
In addition to his expository writing about mathematics, Gardner has been an avid controversialist on contemporary issues,
arguing for his points of view in a wide range of fields. Though particularly well known for his critique of beliefs that he
regards as pseudoscientific, Gardner has also taken sides on political, economic, historical, and philosophical controversies.
His philosophical views, for example, are described and defended in his book The Whys of a Philosophical Scrivener.
Religious belief has been a subject of abiding interest for Gardner. For example, he has written repeatedly about what public
figures such as Robert Maynard Hutchins, Mortimer Adler,
and William F. Buckley, Jr. believed and whether
their beliefs were logically consistent. In some cases, he has attacked prominent religious figures such as Mary Baker Eddy for making claims he considers unsupportable. His
semiautobiograpical novel The Flight of Peter Fromm depicts a traditionally Protestant Christian man struggling with his
faith, examining 20th century scholarship and intellectual movements, and ultimately rejecting Christianity while remaining a
theist. Gardner characterizes his own belief as philosophical theism and describes it as inspired by the theology of the philosopher Miguel de Unamuno; while critical of organized religions, Gardner says he
chooses to believe in God, in the knowledge that his belief could not be confirmed or disconfirmed by reason. At the same time,
Gardner is skeptical of claims that God has communicated with human beings through revelation or performed miracles in the
natural world; Gardner rejects the view that anything in human reason or visible in the world should compel people to adopt a
belief in God.
There is an asteroid named in honor of Martin Gardner (2587)
Gardner.
Gardner has sometimes used pseudonyms, including Uriah Fuller (a parody of Uri Geller, whom Gardner considers
a fraud) and Armand T.
Ringer.
Selected works
Books
- Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science (1957; Dover; ISBN 0486203948)
- Mathematical Games
- The Colossal Book of Mathematics: Classic Puzzles, Paradoxes, and Problems (2001; W.W. Norton & Company; ISBN 0393020231)
- The Ambidextrous Universe: Mirror Asymmetry and Time-Reversed Worlds
- The Annotated Alice
- The Whys of a Philosophical Scrivener 1983,1999 ISBN 0312206828
- Science: Good, Bad, and Bogus 1990 ISBN 8797557330
- A Gardner's Workout: Training the Mind and Entertaining the Spirit 2001
ISBN 1568811209
- Are Universes Thicker Than Blackberries?: Discourses on Gödel, Magic Hexagrams, Little Red Riding Hood, and Other
Mathematical and Pseudoscientific Topics 2003 ISBN 0393057429
Collections of SciAm columns
- Hexaflexagons and Other Mathematical Diversions: The First Scientific American Book of Puzzles and Games (1959,1988; University of Chicago Press ISBN 0226282546)
- Mathematical Puzzles and Diversions (1959; Pelican, UK ISBN 0140207139)
- More Mathematical Puzzles and Diversions (1961; Pelican, UK ISBN 0140207481)
- Further Mathematical Diversions (1969; Pelican, UK ISBN 014021996X)
- Mathematical Carnival (1975; Pelican, UK ISBN 0140220410)
- Mathematical Circus (1979; Pelican, UK ISBN 014022355X)
- Wheels, Life, and Other Mathematical Amusements(1983; W. H. Freeman & Co.
ISBN 0-7167-1589-9)
- Knotted Doughnuts and Other Mathematical Entertainments (1986; W. H. Freeman
& Co. ISBN 0-7167-1799-9)
- Time Travel and Other Mathematical Bewilderments (1988; W. H. Freeman &
Co. ISBN 0-7167-1925-8)
- Penrose Tiles to Trapdoor Ciphers (1989; W. H. Freeman & Co. ISBN 0-7167-1987-8)
- The Last Recreations around 1996??
- many others... please add them here...
See also
External links
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