Undiluted Hocus-Pocus

August 19, 2013
Polymath Gardner—writer, amateur magician, religious philosopher, pseudoscience debunker, and mathematical hobbyist—gives readers a conversational look into his diverse life and interests outside the cultural mainstream, from religion, science fiction, and poetry to magic, chess, and learning to play the saw (“If anything is worth doing, it’s worth doing badly”). After leading a “double life” as an amateur magician and philosophy major at the University of Chicago, Gardner was determined to make a living as a writer. Along the way, he held a string of jobs, including a stint in the Navy during WWII, and eventually landed in New York City, where his “Mathematical Games” column in Scientific American ran for more than 25 years—leading to friendships with cutting-edge mathematicians and scientists, as well as a vital secondary career debunking “bad science.” Readers who only know Gardner for his math and science writing will be surprised at his focus on religion, and this autobiography demonstrates his passion to explain and understand the world around him.

November 1, 2013

Gardner, who died in 2010, was best known for his "Mathematical Games" column in Scientific American, which ran for 25 years, but he was not a trained mathematician. He was a magazine writer who happened to have a fascination with puzzles and magic--and much more. His column and his popular books of science and recreational math puzzles led many readers to enjoy those topics more than they thought possible. Gardner is also well known for his writing as a skeptic (e.g., Science: Good, Bad and Bogus) debunking the claims of pseudoscience. Unfortunately, what he calls his "rambling autobiography," evidently finished before his death, spends little time addressing these portions of his life, focusing instead on his poetry and religious philosophy. Even so, these anecdotes could have told an intriguing story had they not been presented in such a disjointed manner that they never flow. Sadly missing are details of Gardner's life. While he never mentions when he was born and other usual details of an autobiography, he spends several pages trying to convince the reader that L. Frank Baum (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, etc.) was one of our greatest authors. VERDICT May disappoint all but the most avid Martin Gardner fans.--William Baer, Georgia Inst. of Technology Lib., Atlanta

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