Martin Gardner

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Martin Gardner
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Martin Gardner (born October 21, 1914 in Tulsa , Oklahoma , † May 22, 2010 in Norman , Oklahoma) was an American science journalist . From 1957 he was the author of the Mathematical Games column in Scientific American for 25 years , which Douglas R. Hofstadter took over from him in 1982 as a Metamagical Topic (an anagram ).

Gardner became known in Germany because the physicist and science author Heinz Haber frequently took up his subjects. From 1964 his books were translated into German. Starting with the start of the journal Spektrum der Wissenschaft as a German edition of Scientific American, Gardner's columns were also published in German.

Live and act

Gardner was the son of a kindergarten teacher and a geologist who had made money exploring oil fields. He showed his son his first magic tricks and thus laid the foundation for Gardner's interest in exploring unusual connections.

Gardner began studying at the University of Chicago and planned to move to Caltech after two years and graduate in physics. He gave up the plan because he was fascinated by the study of philosophy . He graduated with a BA in 1936 and got through the Great Depression with various jobs until he found a job as a public relations writer at the University of Chicago. He wrote mainly on science topics. At the same time he attended the Graduate School with courses with Rudolf Carnap .

In 1941 he was drafted into the United States Navy and spent the Second World War on the destroyer escort USS Pope , which drove escorts in the Atlantic Ocean.

After the war, he did not go back to university but became a freelance writer with regular short stories in Esquire . They were also published as a book. He also wrote another book with fictional texts. When the editor of Esquire changed and his stories were no longer in demand, Gardner wrote for several children's newspapers and magazines until 1956. He turned to math puzzles and similar tasks for the first time .

He was close friends with Isaac Asimov and, like Lester del Rey , L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt, belonged to his circle of authors, which was immortalized in Asimov's "black widowers" short stories.

He was married and had two sons. From the 1950s to the 1970s he lived in Hastings-on-Hudson on the outskirts of New York City , from 1979 in Hendersonville , North Carolina. His wife died in 2000, and in 2002 he moved to Norman , Oklahoma , near his birthplace and one of his sons who teaches as an education professor at the University of Oklahoma .

Mathematical Games

A publication that emerged from Mathematical Riddles for Children and a stand-alone article earned Martin Gardner a contract with Scientific American . From January 1957 he wrote his monthly column for 25 years, in which he published astonishing contexts, often from entertainment mathematics or with a mathematical background. In 1979 he wanted to slowly retire at the age of 65, but remained a columnist until 1982, taking turns with Douglas Hofstadter last year.

In his self-image he always remained a journalist who wrote down and conveyed what others had thought up. Nevertheless, he managed to make some minor mathematical discoveries and publications which earned him an Erdős number of 2. With the column, Gardner influenced a whole generation of scientists, Donald E. Knuth names Martin Gardner and the column as a major influence and role model.

In his column he made many topics known to a wider public (selection):

Society, religion and skepticism

After the end of the column in Scientific American , he wrote the book The Whys of a Philosophical Scrivener in 1983 , in which he formulated his philosophical interpretations on a variety of social issues. He later declared this book his favorite work. Growing up as a Christian fundamentalist in his youth, he did not feel affiliated with any organized religion in later years, and his wife was also a non-practicing Jew. Nevertheless, he saw himself as a philosophical theist who believed in a personal God.

Gardner is a co-founder of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry . For the Skeptical Inquirer he wrote the column "Notes of a Fringe Watcher" until 2002, then only irregular articles until shortly before his death.

Books

The Mathematical Games and other suggestions resulted in around 60 book publications that Gardner brought out until shortly before his death. These are almost exclusively factual texts, it wasn't until 2004 that Gardner wrote another book with stories that he set in the universe of Oz by Frank L. Baum . In addition to science topics, he also wrote annotations on all of Alice's books and several poems by Lewis Carroll . While it still contains mathematical puzzles alongside literary allusions, a book on texts by Gilbert Keith Chesterton has an exclusively literary and philosophical character.

Awards

In 1983 he received the Science Writing Award from the American Institute of Physics for his book "Quantum Weirdness" . In 1987 he received the Leroy P. Steele Prize of the American Mathematical Society and in 2000 the George Pólya Award of the Mathematical Association of America .

Since 1993, conferences have been held in his honor under the name "G4G1" (Gatherings for Gardner) . In 1997 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences .

The asteroid (2587) Gardner is named after him.

Works

Books in German

  • Math puzzles and problems. Vieweg, Braunschweig 1964, 2nd edition 1966, foreword by Roland Sprague , 5th edition 1982, ISBN 3-528-08175-9 , doi : 10.1007 / 978-3-322-98457-9 (English: Mathematical puzzles and diversions, und : The second book of mathematical puzzles and diversions)
  • The mirrored universe , Vieweg 1967 (English: The ambidextrous universe)
    • also as: Our mirrored world. Ullstein, Berlin / Frankfurt / Vienna 1982, ISBN 3-550-07709-2
  • Logic under the gallows - a mathematical in 20 problems. Vieweg, Braunschweig 1971, ISBN 3-528-08297-6 , doi : 10.1007 / 978-3-322-85873-3 (English: The unexpected hanging and other mathematical diversions)
  • Relativity theory for everyone , Orel Füssli 1966, Du Mont 2005
  • Mathematische Knobeleien , Vieweg 1973 (English: New mathematical diversions from Scientific American)
  • Mathematical carnival. Ullstein, Berlin / Frankfurt / Vienna 1975, ISBN 3-550-07675-4 (English: Mathematical Carnival, foreword by John Horton Conway )
  • Sam Loyd - Mathematical Puzzles and Games; Brain teasers for bright minds. DuMont, Cologne 1978, ISBN 3-7701-1049-8
  • Sam Loyd - More math puzzles and games. DuMont, Cologne 1979, ISBN 3-7701-1145-1
  • Math maze. Vieweg, Braunschweig 1979, ISBN 3-528-08402-2 , doi : 10.1007 / 978-3-322-83962-6 (English: Martin Gardner's sixth book of mathematical games from Scientific American)
  • Mathematical sorcery. Ullstein, Berlin / Frankfurt / Vienna 1979, ISBN 3-550-06578-7 (preface by Alexander Adrion , English: Mathematical magic show)
  • Aha! or a true understanding of math. Spectrum of Science, Heidelberg 1981, ISBN 3-922508-31-6
  • Math magic tricks. Vieweg, Braunschweig / Wiesbaden 1981, ISBN 3-528-08439-1 , doi : 10.1007 / 978-3-322-85916-7 (English: Mathematics, magic and mystery)
  • Math and magic. DuMont, Cologne 1981, ISBN 3-7701-1048-X , 2nd edition as: Mathematische Zauberereien. , DuMont 2005, ISBN 3-8321-7473-7 (English: Mathematics, Magic and Mystery)
  • The hexed alphabet, tips and tricks for secret writing, Ullstein 1981 (English: Codes, ciphers and secret writing)
  • Cabaret of Deceptions, Under the Cover of Science , Ullstein 1983 (English: Science. Good, Bad And Bogus, 1981)
  • Puzzles and mind games. Ullstein, Frankfurt / Berlin / Vienna 1981, ISBN 3-548-04162-0 (English: Perplexing Puzzle and Tantalizing Teasers , 1969, and More Perplexing Puzzles and Tantalizing Teasers , 1977)
  • Mathematical Planetary Magic , Ullstein 1980 (English: Space puzzles, 1971)
  • The number games of Dr. Matrix: enjoyable encounters with mathematics , Ullstein 1981 (English: The numerology of Dr. Matrix)
  • Brain games from the future. Hugendubel, Munich 1982, ISBN 3-88034-174-5
  • Mathematischer Zirkus , Ullstein 1984, 1988, ISBN 3-550-07692-4 (English: Mathematical circus)
  • Gotcha: Paradoxes for homo ludens. Hugendubel, Munich 1985, ISBN 3-88034-257-1
  • Bacon's secret. The roots of chance and other numerical oddities , Krüger, Frankfurt 1986, ISBN 3-8105-0800-4 (English: Knotted donuts and other mathematical entertainments)
  • With the elevator to the 4th dimension , Krüger 1991 (selection from Knotted Doughhnuts and other mathematical entertainments and Time Travel and other mathematical bewilderments. )
  • Brain games from other planets. Hugendubel, Munich 1986, ISBN 3-88034-295-4
  • Martin Gardner's mathematical mind games. Hugendubel, Munich 1987, ISBN 3-88034-323-3 (English: Wheels, Life, and Other Mathematical Amusements)
  • The magic numbers of Dr. Matrix. Krüger, Frankfurt 1987, ISBN 3-8105-0713-X (English: The magic numbers of Dr. Matrix)
  • Geometry with taxis, the heads of the Hydra and other mathematical gimmicks , Birkhäuser, Basel / Boston / Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-7643-5702-9 (English: The last recreations)
  • Lewis Carroll - Alles über Alice (English original: Annotated Alice , illustrations by John Tenniel), Europe, Hamburg-Vienna 2002, ISBN 3-203-75950-0

Books (English original title)

  • Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science. Dover Publications, 1957; new edition 2000, ISBN 0-486-20394-8
  • Logic Machines and Diagrams. McGraw-Hill, New York 1958 (popular representation of logical machines )
  • Mathematical Puzzles and Diversions , Simon and Schuster 1959
  • Sam Loyd - Mathematical Puzzles. Dover Publications, 1959
  • The Ambidextrous Universe: Mirror Asymmetry and Time-Reversed Worlds. Charles Scriber's Sons, New York, and Basic Books 1964
  • The Annotated Alice. 1960; New version The Definitive Edition. 1999, ISBN 0-393-04847-0 (a commentary on Lewis Carroll's Alice books )
  • The Annotated Hunting of the Snark, 1962; Revision 2006, ISBN 0-393-06242-2 (Commentary on the poem by Lewis Carroll)
  • The Annotated Ancient Mariner. 1965; new edition 2003, ISBN 1-59102-125-1 (commentary on the poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge )
  • Codes, Ciphers and Secret Writing. Simon & Schuster, 1972; Reprint of Dover Publications, ISBN 9780486247618 (a non-fiction book for children)
  • Science fiction puzzle tales. Crown Publishers, New York 1981
  • The Whys of a Philosophical Scrivener. 1983; 1999, ISBN 0-312-20682-8
  • Science: Good, Bad, and Bogus. 1990, ISBN 0-87975-573-3
  • The Universe in a handkerchief. Lewis Carroll's mathematical recreations, games, puzzles and word plays , Copernicus 1996
  • A Gardner's Workout: Training the Mind and Entertaining the Spirit. 2001, ISBN 1-56881-120-9
  • The Colossal Book of Mathematics: Classic Puzzles, Paradoxes, and Problems. WW Norton, 2001, ISBN 0-393-02023-1
  • Are Universes Thicker Than Blackberries? Discourses on Gödel , Magic Hexagrams, Little Red Riding Hood, and Other Mathematical and Pseudoscientific Topics. 2003, ISBN 0-393-05742-9

Collection of Scientific American columns

  • Mathematical Puzzles and Diversions. Pelican (UK), 1959, ISBN 0-14-020713-9 , new 1988 as: Hexaflexagons and Other Mathematical Diversions: The First Scientific American Book of Puzzles and Games. University of Chicago Press, 1988, ISBN 0-226-28254-6
  • Mathematical Puzzles and Diversions. The Second Scientific American Book , Simon and Schuster 1961, in England: More Mathematical Puzzles and Diversions. Pelican (UK), 1961, ISBN 0-14-020748-1 , reissued by University of Chicago Press 1987
  • New mathematical diversions from Scientific American , Simon and Schuster 1966
  • The Numerology of Dr. Matrix , 1967 (also as The Incredible Dr. Matrix 1976, The Magic Numbers of Dr. Matrix 1985)
  • The Unexpected Hanging , 1969 (in England: Further Mathematical Diversions, Pelican (UK), 1969, ISBN 0-14-021996-X )
  • Martin Gardner's Sixth Book of Mathematical Diversions from Scientific American , 1971
  • Mathematical Carnival. Pelican (UK), 1975, ISBN 0-14-022041-0
  • Mathematical Magic Show. Alfred A. Knopf, New York 1977 (German: Mathematical witchcraft , see above)
  • Mathematical Circus. Alfred Knopf 1979, Pelican (UK), 1979, ISBN 0-14-022355-X (dedicated to Donald E. Knuth )
  • Wheels, Life, and Other Mathematical Amusements. WH Freeman & Co, 1983, ISBN 0-7167-1589-9
  • Knotted Donuts and Other Mathematical Entertainments. WH Freeman & Co, 1986, ISBN 0-7167-1799-9
  • Time Travel and Other Mathematical Bewilderments. WH Freeman & Co, 1988, ISBN 0-7167-1925-8
  • Penrose Tiles to Trapdoor Ciphers. WH Freeman & Co, 1989, ISBN 0-7167-1987-8
  • Fractal Music, Hypercards and More , WH Freeman 1992
  • The Last Recreations: Hydras, Eggs, and Other Mathematical Mystifications. Springer, 1997, ISBN 0-387-94929-1

editor

literature

  • Donald J. Albers, GL Alexanderson Mathematical People - Profiles and Interviews , Birkhäuser 1985

Web links

Texts by Gardner
Information about Gardner

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Detlef Borchers: I'm just a simple journalist. On the death of Martin Gardner. Heise.de, May 23, 2010
  2. ↑ The chapter is based on an interview with Martin Gardner from 2004 - This side of the pond: The Martin Gardner Interview
  3. ^ Obituary in the Daily Telegraph, May 25, 2010, accessed September 16, 2010
  4. ↑ Martin Gardner, math and science writer, dies . In: Boston Globe . May 23, 2010
  5. ↑ a b Martin Gardner: Interview with Don Albers, 2004
  6. ^ Scientific American: Profile: Martin Gardner, the Mathematical Gamester
  7. ↑ The book is dedicated to John Horton Conway. Conway and colleagues, in turn, dedicated their book Winning Ways to Martin Gardner, whose dedication has brought more mathematics to more millions than anyone else .
personal data
SURNAME Gardner, Martin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American science journalist
DATE OF BIRTH October 21, 1914
PLACE OF BIRTH Tulsa , Oklahoma
DATE OF DEATH May 22, 2010
Place of death Norman (Oklahoma)