Remembering Martin Gardner, Mathematical Magician

“I’m strictly a journalist.”

– Martin Gardner

Martin Gardner had no formal mathematical training. A newspaper reporter, publicist, freelancer for Esquire, caseworker, magician, skeptic, Navy sailor, and most famously, “Mathematical Games” columnist for Scientific American, Gardner displayed a boundless energy and enthusiasm for intellectual inquiry. A tireless advocate for science, his popular books and articles painstakingly argue against the dangers of pseudoscience in all forms.

On Saturday, Gardner passed away at the age of 95 in Norman, OK. TSoTP takes a look back.

The Martin Gardner Interview – Part 5

This 5th and final installment in Don Albers’ long interview with Martin Gardner clarifies his philosophical theism, tackles pseudoscience, and glimpses what he’s up to now. Remember, he’s still at it. Gardner just released revised editions of his Scientific American columns here at Cambridge, and has other projects in the works too. Start from the [...]

Win a New Martin Gardner Book #5

October 1, 2008 For this week’s contest, click here! Hello, Leiter Reports! I’m very glad that I have a couple philosophy degrees, because the conditional logic that you guys threw my way … well, wasn’t too complicated per se, I just don’t see much of it during a regular work day! That wasn’t supposed to [...]

The Martin Gardner Interview Part 3

Continuing from last Thursday – Don Albers’ long interview with math puzzle legend Martin Gardner. Yes, he once edited a magazine for girls. Newcomers: start from the beginning here >> Humpty Dumpty’s Gardner: That’s right, it’s not until I started selling stories to Esquire that I thought I could make a decent living as a [...]

The Martin Gardner Interview Part 2

Continuing from last week, we’ll continue with Don Albers‘ 2004 interview with Martin Gardner right where we left off: Navy Service DA: In December of 1941, the U.S. entered World War II and you enlisted in the Navy. Gardner: I ended up serving on DE 134, a destroyer escort, in the Atlantic. I was miserably [...]