ProofWiki:Mathematicians/Martin Gardner

American mathematician and magician best known for the books he wrote (of which there were many) popularizing mathematics and science.

Author of the Mathematical Games column in Scientific American between 1956 and 1981. This position was taken over by Douglas R. Hofstadter.

Also contributed a series of "puzzle page" articles for Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine in the late 1970's to early 1980's.

Also wrote a column called Notes of a Fringe Watcher (originally Notes of a Psi-Watcher) from 1983 to 2002 for the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry's periodical Skeptical Inquirer.

Nationality

American

History

• Born: 21 Oct 1914, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA
• Died: 22 May 2010, Norman, Oklahoma, USA

Books and Papers

• 1952: In the Name of Science
• 1956: Mathematics, Magic and Mystery
• 1957: Science Puzzlers
• 1957: Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science (expansion of In the Name of Science)
• 1957: Great Essays in Science (as editor)
• 1957: The Wizard of Oz and Who He Was (with Russel B. Nye) (Revised 1994)
• 1958: Logic Machines and Diagrams
• 1959: The Scientific American Book of Mathematical Puzzles and Diversions (collection of Mathematical Games columns)
• 1960: The Annotated Alice
• 1961: The Second Scientific American Book of Mathematical Puzzles and Diversions (collection of Mathematical Games columns)
• 1962: The Annotated Snark (Reprinted 1998)
• 1962: Relativity for the Million
• 1964: The Ambidextrous Universe: Mirror Asymmetry and Time-Reversed Worlds
• 1965: The Annotated Ancient Mariner
• 1966: Martin Gardner's New Mathematical Diversions from Scientific American (collection of Mathematical Games columns)
• 1967: Annotated Casey at the Bat: A Collection of Ballads about the Mighty Casey
• 1967: Numerology of Dr. Matrix (collection of Mathematical Games columns)
• 1969: Unexpected Hangings, and Other Mathematical Diversions (collection of Mathematical Games columns)
• 1971: The Sixth Scientific American Book of Mathematical Puzzles and Diversions (collection of Mathematical Games columns)
• 1973: The Flight of Peter Fromm
• 1975: Mathematical Carnival (collection of Mathematical Games columns)
• 1976: The Incredible Dr. Matrix
• 1976: The Relativity Explosion (Revised and updated version of Relativity for the Million)
• 1977: Mathematical Magic Show (collection of Mathematical Games columns)
• 1977: Further Mathematical Diversions (reprint of the 1969 collection Unexpected Hangings, and Other Mathematical Diversions)
• 1978: Aha! Insight
• 1979: Mathematical Circus (collection of Mathematical Games columns)
• 1981: Science: Good, Bad, and Bogus
• 1981: Entertaining Science Experiments With Everyday Objects
• 1981: Science Fiction Puzzle Tales (collection from Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine)
• 1982: Aha! Gotcha: Paradoxes to Puzzle and Delight (Tools for Transformation)
• 1983: The Whys of a Philosophical Scrivener
• 1983: Order and Surprise
• 1983: Wheels, Life, and Other Mathematical Amusements (collection of Mathematical Games columns)
• 1984: Codes, Ciphers and Secret Writing (also as Test Your Code Breaking Skills)
• 1984: Puzzles from Other Worlds (collection from Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine)
• 1984: The Sacred Beetle and Other Great Essays in Science (as editor: revised edition of Great Essays in Science from 1957)
• 1985: Magic Numbers of Dr Matrix
• 1986: Entertaining Mathematical Puzzles
• 1986: Knotted Doughnuts and Other Mathematical Entertainments (collection of Mathematical Games columns)
• 1987: The No-Sided Professor and other tales of fantasy, humor, mystery, and philosophy
• 1987: The Annotated Innocence of Father Brown
• 1987: Riddles of the Sphinx (collection from Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine)
• 1987: Time Travel and Other Mathematical Bewilderments (collection of Mathematical Games columns)
• 1988: Perplexing Puzzles and Tantalizing Teasers
• 1988: New Age: Notes of a Fringe Watcher (collection of Notes of a Fringe Watcher columns)
• 1988: Hexaflexagons and Other Mathematical Diversions (expanded edition of The Scientific American Book of Mathematical Puzzles and Diversions from 1959)
• 1989: Penrose Tiles to Trapdoor Ciphers (collection of Mathematical Games columns)
• 1990: More Annotated Alice (a supplement to The Annotated Alice from 1960)
• 1990: The New Ambidextrous Universe: Symmetry and Asymmetry from Mirror Reflections to Superstrings (Revised edition of The Ambidextrous Universe: Mirror Asymmetry and Time-Reversed Worlds)
• 1991: The Unexpected Hanging and Other Mathematical Diversions (updated edition of Unexpected Hangings, and Other Mathematical Diversions from 1969)
• 1991: The Annotated Night Before Christmas: A Collection Of Sequels, Parodies, And Imitations Of Clement Moore's Immortal Ballad About Santa Claus Edited, with an introduction and notes
• 1991: Fractal Music, Hypercards and More (collection of Mathematical Games columns)
• 1992: On the Wild Side (collection of Notes of a Fringe Watcher columns)
• 1993: The Healing Revelations of Mary Baker Eddy
• 1994: My Best Mathematical and Logic Puzzles
• 1995: Classic Brainteasers
• 1995: Urantia: The Great Cult Mystery
• 1996: Weird Water & Fuzzy Logic: More Notes of a Fringe Watcher (collection of Notes of a Fringe Watcher columns)
• 1996: Relativity Simply Explained (Revised and enlarged edition of Relativity for the Million and The Relativity Explosion)
• 1997: The Night Is Large: Collected Essays, 1938-1995
• 1997: Last Recreations: Hydras, Eggs, and other Mathematical Mystifications
• 1998: Calculus Made Easy (Revisions and additions to the 1910 textbook Calculus Made Easy by Silvanus P. Thompson)
• 1998: Martin Gardner's Table Magic
• 1998: Mathematical Recreations: A Collection in Honor of Martin Gardner
• 1999: Gardner's Whys & Wherefores
• 1999: The Annotated Alice: The Definitive Edition (updated edition of The Annotated Alice from 1960)
• 1999: The Annotated Thursday: G. K. Chesterton's Masterpiece, the Man Who Was Thursday by G. K. Chesterton (edited by Martin Gardner)
• 2000: From the Wandering Jew to William F. Buckley, Jr.: On Science, Literature, and Religion
• 2000: The Annotated Wizard of Oz (introduction)
• 2001: A Gardner's Workout: Training the Mind and Entertaining the Spirit
• 2001: Mathematical Puzzle Tales (collection of articles from Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine)
• 2001: Did Adam and Eve Have Navels?: Debunking Pseudoscience (collection of Notes of a Fringe Watcher columns)
• 2001: The Colossal Book of Mathematics: Classic Puzzles, Paradoxes, and Problems (a "best of" collection of Mathematical Games columns)
• 2002: Martin Gardner's Favorite Poetic Parodies
• 2003: Are Universes Thicker Than Blackberries?: Discourses on Gödel, Magic Hexagrams, Little Red Riding Hood, and Other Mathematical and Pseudoscientific Topics (collection of Notes of a Fringe Watcher columns and others)
• 2004: Smart Science Tricks
• 2005: Martin Gardner's Mathematical Games (CD-ROM version of the complete collection of Mathematical Games columns)
• 2006: The Colossal Book of Short Puzzles and Problems (collection of Mathematical Games columns)
• 2007: The Jinn from Hyperspace: And Other Scribblings—both Serious and Whimsical
• 2008: Bamboozlers: The Book of Bankable Bar Betchas, Brain Bogglers, Belly Busters & Bewitchery by Diamond Jim Tyler (introduction)
• 2009: When You Were a Tadpole and I was a Fish and other Speculations about This and That
• 2009: The Upside-Down World of Gustave Verbeek (introduction)

Notable Quotes

"Biographical history, as taught in our public schools, is still largely a history of boneheads: ridiculous kings and queens, paranoid political leaders, compulsive voyagers, ignorant generals -- the flotsam and jetsam of historical currents. The men who radically altered history, the great creative scientists and mathematicians, are seldom mentioned if at all."

Also see

• John J. O'Connor and Edmund F. Robertson: "Martin Gardner": MacTutor History of Mathematics archive