Abstract
Martin Gardner had a special affinity for the enchantment of games, puzzles, and simple ideas that lead to unforeseen possibilities. He was also clearly drawn to like-minded spirits of the present and past who shared his delight in such phenomena. By imbibing their lore and showcasing their findings in Scientific American, he celebrated creativity while making a signal contribution to our collective culture. For what better way could anyone convey the unlikely idea that doing mathematics can be fun? An avid reader, Gardner often stumbled upon many lost gems of the remote and not so distant past. In this essay, I endeavor to follow just a few of his leads.
In Remembrance of Martin Gardner
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Notes
- 1.
Mario Livio recently tracked this quote down and discovered that it was in all probability the invention of George Gamow (Brilliant Blunders: From Darwin to Einstein, 2014).
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Rowe, D.E. (2018). Puzzles and Paradoxes and Their (Sometimes) Profounder Implications. In: A Richer Picture of Mathematics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67819-1_23
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