Martin Gardner

[[File:Martin Gardner.jpeg|thumb|165px|Martin Gardner.]]{{skepnav|1}} 
'''Martin Gardner''' {{lived|1914|2010}} was an [[United States|American]] [[mathematics]] and [[science]] [[Author|writer]].  He specialized in "recreational mathematics", and for many years wrote the column ''Mathematical Games'' in ''[[Scientific American]]'' magazine.  He also studied [[magic]], [[pseudoscience]], [[literature]], [[philosophy]], and [[religion]].  Gardner was also a prolific author, and wrote numerous books across many subjects (''The Annotated Alice'', a critical edition of [[Lewis Carroll]]'s ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' and ''Through the Looking-Glass'' being one of the most famous). On the subject of calculus, Gardner revised Silvanus Thompson's ''Calculus Made Easy'', a book that approaches calculus as something that is actually quite easy to understand - if it's not over-mystified by those who would teach it.<ref>[http://www.jstor.org/pss/2687108 JSTOR review of ''Calculus Made Easy'']</ref>

Gardner wrote a great deal on the [[paranormal]] and was a harsh critic of the [[Human Potential Movement]].  He was also a longtime, prominent opponent of Israeli magician/"psychic" [[Uri Geller]].  He also wrote a skeptical study of the ''[[Urantia Book]]'': ''Urantia, The Great Cult Mystery''.

==Religious beliefs==

Gardner was unusual among prominent skeptics for being a [[deism|deist]]. It's believed that Gardner coined the term "[[fideism|fideist]]"  - meaning someone who chooses to believe in a god or gods because it is comforting, and not because there is evidence, as laid out in his essay ''Why I Am Not An Atheist.''

==''Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science''==

Gardner's book ''[[Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science]]'', (originally published in 1952, later updated and republished in its current form in 1957), is regarded as a seminal work of the skeptical movement. It describes a number of the popular forms of [[woo]] that were current in the day, including: the works of [[Wilhelm Reich]] and [[Scientology|L. Ron Hubbard]], American [[racism]] before the civil rights movement, and Christian [[fundamentalism]], which he addressed well before [[Religious right|its heyday in American politics]] several decades later.

The book may appear dated, given that it was written in the 1950s, but it describes the origins of much modern-day [[woo]], and a reader may come away feeling that gullibility and hucksterism are universal constants, and that the [[snake oil]] peddlers of the 1950s are little different to those of modern times. The woo merchants of old spread their strange ideas via self-published books and pamphlets, while the modern crank opts instead for garish websites and payment via credit card or PayPal.<ref>[http://www.timecube.com/ The famous Time Cube website.] Oh Lordy, make it stop!</ref> Plus, it can be very entertaining to read about [[hollow Earth]] theories and the rather strange ideas of [[Theosophy|Madame Blavatsky]] and [[Forteanism|Charles Fort]].

==On Gardner's death at age 95 after a life well lived==

{{cquote|Death is probably starting to regret challenging Martin Gardner to a game of his choice.|||[http://twitter.com/thewub/status/14549831262 Peter Coombe]}}

==See also==

*[[Skepticism]]
*[[Magic]]
*[[Pseudoscience]]
*[[Fun:Calculus]]

==External links==

*[http://store.doverpublications.com/0486203948.html Dover Publications: Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science] Buy this book.

==References==
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[[Category:Authors]]
[[Category:Deists]]
[[Category:Popular science]]

Categories: Authors, Deists, Popular science