# Martin Gardner, 1914-2010 **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 23, 2010, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-gardner-1914-2010/540426 "2010-05-23T02:33:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-gardner-1914-2010/540426/1 "2010-05-23T02:33:16Z")
With this, we’ve lost one of the most effective popularizers of mathematics and skepticism of the late 20th century. I can’t speak to his work on skepticism, but Mr. Gardner’s writings on recreational mathematics certainly had an effect on my educational path. There are statements from [James Randi](http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/995-my-world-is-a-little-darker.html) and [Phil Plait](http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2010/05/22/martin-gardner-1914-2010/), with more to surely follow. Godspeed, Mr. Gardner. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-gardner-1914-2010/540426/2 "2010-05-23T03:06:45Z")
His was such an amazing mind. What a loss for the world. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-gardner-1914-2010/540426/3 "2010-05-23T03:10:28Z")
Loved his articles back in the day. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-gardner-1914-2010/540426/4 "2010-05-23T03:40:24Z")
Sad news not just for mathematicians but for puzzle folks. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-gardner-1914-2010/540426/5 "2010-05-23T04:04:27Z")
☹ ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-gardner-1914-2010/540426/6 "2010-05-23T04:07:25Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Sad news not just for mathematicians but for puzzle folks. And skeptics. What a great loss. ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-gardner-1914-2010/540426/7 "2010-05-23T05:27:01Z")
Well damn. I have some of his books (Aha! and What Is The Name Of This Book? amongst them), enjoyed rereading them for decades (!) and I always liked his columns in Scientific American. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-gardner-1914-2010/540426/8 "2010-05-23T05:27:45Z")
I used to love his column in _Scientific American._ ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-gardner-1914-2010/540426/9 "2010-05-23T05:36:42Z")
Alice in Wonderland. Mathematician on mathematician. Cage match. RIP. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-gardner-1914-2010/540426/10 "2010-05-23T07:43:31Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > I used to love his column in _Scientific American._ As did I. It was he who, probably around 1966, introduced an eight-year-old boy to the compelling Escher prints which, now framed under glass in official Baarn reproductions, adorn the walls my study: Relativity, Waterfall, Ascending and Descending, Convex and Concave– and in the hall between the study and the bathroom, Belvedere. I have about five more but don’t have any place for them right now, and will eventually rotate them the way they do that at real galleries. They all seemed to conjure up a strange dream world of aberrant spatial relationships; the generally serene expressions of the people in the prints seemed to strengthen this impression of mine. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-gardner-1914-2010/540426/11 "2010-05-23T11:34:54Z")
I haven’t read much of what he wrote, but I found my mother’s copy of _Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science_ years ago and read that. It seems more pertinent now than it might have been in 1957. Or maybe it just seems that the Internet allows that kind of crap to spread more. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-gardner-1914-2010/540426/12 "2010-05-23T12:52:17Z")
Sorry he’s gone. He, Isaac Asimov and Carl Sagan were the bright lights in my “pop science” reading. Others have done creditable work in the field, but Gardner’s way of putting dense concepts in layman’s terms was without a serious challenge. His games efforts were also outstanding. ---
**Author:** ![Indian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-gardner-1914-2010/540426/13 "2010-05-23T15:18:13Z")
R I P from an admirer halfway across the world .☹ ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-gardner-1914-2010/540426/14 "2010-05-23T15:24:18Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > Alice in Wonderland. . I just bought his Annotated Alice a couple of weeks ago. My nephew heard about it and wanted it so I gave it to him and have to buy another one. I didn’t get a chance to read it. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-gardner-1914-2010/540426/15 "2010-05-23T19:00:06Z")
Sad, he was a great writer. But 96 years is a pretty damn good run. A toast to Martin Gardner! ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-gardner-1914-2010/540426/16 "2010-05-23T19:44:41Z")
a great teacher. ---
**Author:** ![Topologist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/topologist/32/3208_2.png) [@Topologist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Topologist)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-gardner-1914-2010/540426/17 "2010-05-23T20:00:59Z")
RIP Martin Gardner. I’m sure there are many like myself who read him when we were young and, partly because of that, went on to become mathematicians. And then there are the wonderful annotated editions of Lewis Carroll! Including my favorite, The Hunting of the Snark. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-gardner-1914-2010/540426/18 "2010-05-24T00:48:04Z")
☹ ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-gardner-1914-2010/540426/19 "2010-05-24T01:04:51Z")
Damn. I have several of his books, and avidly read both his _Scientific American_ column, then the one in _Skeptical Inquirer_. I even wrote him about a mathematical games column, and got a postcard reply back from him. I also loved his “Annotated” books. I have his _Annotated Alice_ in both first and third editions, _The Hunting of the Snark_, _The Ancient Mariner_, and _Casey at the Bat_. He also did _the Night Before Christmas_, but I don’t have a copy of that one. I’m not surprised – he was definitely getting on in years, but I was amazed at how he still kept writing. If you get a chance, read his book **Whys of a Philosophical Scrivener**. Very unlike most of his other published stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-gardner-1914-2010/540426/20 "2010-05-24T01:14:53Z")
I was amazed to learn not very long ago that he was still alive. Always enjoyed his writings. RIP. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-gardner-1914-2010/540426.md?page=2)