Undiluted Hocus-Pocus: The Autobiography of Martin Gardner

by Martin Gardner, Persi Diaconis (Foreword by), James Randi (Afterword)

Overview

The autobiography of the beloved writer who inspired a generation to study math and science

Martin Gardner wrote the Mathematical Games column for Scientific American for twenty-five years and published more than seventy books on topics as diverse as magic, religion, and Alice in Wonderland. Gardner's illuminating autobiography is a candid self-portrait by the man evolutionary theorist Stephen Jay Gould called our "single brightest beacon" for the defense of rationality and good science against mysticism and anti-intellectualism.

Gardner takes readers from his childhood in Oklahoma to his varied and wide-ranging professional pursuits. He shares colorful anecdotes about the many fascinating people he met and mentored, and voices strong opinions on the subjects that matter to him most, from his love of mathematics to his uncompromising stance against pseudoscience. For Gardner, our mathematically structured universe is undiluted hocus-pocus—a marvelous enigma, in other words.

Undiluted Hocus-Pocus offers a rare, intimate look at Gardner’s life and work, and the experiences that shaped both.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691159911
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	09/29/2013
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Martin Gardner (1914–2010) was an acclaimed popular mathematics and science writer. His numerous books include The Annotated Alice, When You Were a Tadpole and I Was a Fish, and Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science.

Table of Contents

Foreword: Magic, Mathematics, and Mysterians, by Persi Diaconis xi

Preface xxiii

Prologue: I Am a Mysterian xxv

1 Earliest Memories 1

2 Lee School 10

3 Tulsa Central High, I 21

4 Central High, II 28

5 Hutchins and Adler 40

6 Richard McKeon 47

7 I Lose My Faith 53

8 Chicago, I 62

9 Chicago, II 76

10 I Become a Journalist 88

11 Mother and Dad 98

12 The Navy, I 111

13 The Navy, II 119

PHOTO ESSAY follows page 124

14 Esquire and Humpty 125

15 Scientific American 134

16 Pseudoscience 150

17 Math and Magic Friends 160

18 Charlotte 173

19 Bob and Betty 185

20 God 191

21 My Philosophy 195

Afterword: My Most Elegant Friend . . . , by James Randi 209

Index 215

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Informative, original, unexpected, and always charmingly written with his uniquely subtle sense of fun, this final autobiographical work of Martin Gardner, Undiluted Hocus-Pocus, sums up his own life and opinions, in the way that has become so familiar and inspirational to us from his well-known writings on puzzles, mathematics, philosophy, and the oddities of the world."—Roger Penrose, author of Cycles of Time: An Extraordinary New View of the Universe

"Martin Gardner was the most learned man I have ever met. He wrote articles and books for mathematicians, magicians, and puzzle lovers, and he didn't even get quantum mechanics wrong! Now you can read how this amazing man came to be so amazing."—John Conway, John von Neumann Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Princeton University

"A curious read, reminiscent of Uriah Fuller's attempts to persuade the nonbelievers. I'm left wondering if Gardner's questions have now been answered—which to some readers will always be an intriguing paradox!"—attributed to Armand T. Ringer

"Martin is gone, but his depth and clarity will illuminate our world for a long time."—from the foreword by Persi Diaconis

"A huge intellect, a prolific author, and a caring, responsible citizen of the world."—from the afterword by James Randi

"Undiluted Hocus-Pocus is a book that every fan of Gardner will want to own."—Ron Graham, coauthor of Magical Mathematics

"Martin Gardner occupies a special place in twentieth-century mathematics. More than any other single individual, he inspired a generation of young people to study math. Years from now, people reading his books and marveling at the clarity of his expository style will want to know who he was. How better to satisfy that curiosity than by letting Gardner himself tell the story of his life?"—Barry Cipra, coauthor of What's Happening in the Mathematical Sciences

Editorial Reviews

Gardner writes with such frank pleasure, you find yourself surveying your own life for piquant and vivid memories…Gardner writes with authority and ease. You trust him to take you wherever he feels like going…His radiant self…shines at its sweetest, wittiest and most personal in Undiluted Hocus-Pocus.

The New York Times Book Review - Teller

08/19/2013
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. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

"This book describes some of the pivotal moments in the life of prolific author/journalist Martin Gardner (1914-2010), who is best known for his illuminating and entertaining contributions to Scientific American magazine from 1956 to 1981. Fans of Martin Gardner will find this posthumously published autobiography fascinating."

Choice

"Zealously debunking science fads and declaring his bafflement at the human brain, maths writer Martin Gardner was on fine form in this posthumous memoir."

Nature

11/01/2013
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

Library Journal

"At the age of 95 he wrote this . . . charming and informative autobiography covering an incredibly prolific and productive life that should inspire anyone who encounters it."

AAAS

"Reading Martin Gardner's autobiography is like spending a pleasant afternoon in the company of a 95-year-old man with sharp memories and a twinkle in his eye. Oh wait, that's what it is."

Science Musings

"Undiluted Hocus-Pocus reminds us how Gardner taught many of us how to play the game of mathematics better."

Mathrecreation blog

"[Undiluted Hocus-Pocus] is the most sincere, unadulterated biography I ever read. . . . [D]etails of his life and personality exposed in the book help create a more complete picture of this fascinating person. . . . Martin Gardner had tremendous influence on several generations of young minds; his autobiography will help his fans appreciate how that came about. This is a book no one who ever heard his name would want to miss."

Cut the Knot Insights

"I only wish his autobiography was twice as long, for I never tire of reading him and feeling enriched. . . . And thank you Martin for this last, final, further peek into your brilliant, fertile, curious, nimble, incisive, probing, captivating life and mind."

Math Tango

"His illuminating autobiography, Undiluted Hocus-Pocus . . . offers a rare, intimate look at Gardner's life and work."

Mother Nature Network

"[This book] will be an eye-opener knowing that Martin Gardner was active on so many diverse fields."

European Mathematical Society

One of American Association for the Advancement of Science’s Books for General Audiences and Young Adults 2014

From the Publisher

"Zealously debunking science fads and declaring his bafflement at the human brain, maths writer Martin Gardner was on fine form in this posthumous memoir."

Nature Lib