Martin Gardner

Martin Gardner

BORN21 October 1914, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA

DIED22 May 2010, Norman, Oklahoma, USA

OCCUPATIONWriter, mathematics populariser, magician

KNOWN FORFads and Fallacies in the Name of Science; co-founding CSICOP; the Mathematical Games column

STATUSDeceased

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Martin Gardner (21 October 1914 – 22 May 2010) was an American writer on recreational mathematics, magic, and popular science, widely credited as a founding figure of the modern scientific skepticism movement. Though not formally trained as a mathematician, he became one of the 20th century's most influential popularisers of the subject through his long-running Mathematical Games column for Scientific American, and separately built a parallel reputation as one of the paranormal's most consistent and effective critics.

Early life

Gardner was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to petroleum geologist James Henry Gardner and Montessori-trained teacher Willie Wilkerson Spiers, who taught him to read before he started school. He earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy from the University of Chicago. Despite his later reputation, Gardner readily acknowledged he was never formally a mathematician — he completed calculus and little further formal training — a point of some good-natured dispute among the many working mathematicians who credited him with shaping their careers.

Mathematical Games

From 1956 to 1981, Gardner wrote the Mathematical Games column for Scientific American, through which he became, by wide consensus, the 20th century's foremost populariser of recreational mathematics, alongside other notable works including The Annotated Alice.

Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science

Gardner's 1952 book In the Name of Science, substantially revised and reissued in 1957 as Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science, is regarded as the founding text of the modern skeptical movement. The book systematically examined a wide range of pseudoscientific movements and claims, including Fletcherism, Lamarckism, dowsing, the writings of Charles Fort, Rudolf Steiner's teachings, Dianetics, the Bates method, UFOs, extra-sensory perception, and Psychokinesis. Gardner also identified recurring behavioural patterns common to pseudoscientists — among them a tendency to view themselves as unjustly persecuted, comparing themselves to historical figures such as Galileo or Copernicus. Gardner followed the book with further critical works, including Science: Good, Bad, and Bogus (1981).

Founding CSICOP

In 1976, Gardner joined Ray Hyman, James Randi, and Paul Kurtz in founding the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), now the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI). He went on to write a regular column for Skeptical Inquirer until his retirement from it in 2002, and was described as "the single most powerful antagonist of the paranormal in the second half of the 20th century." His interest in stage magic, a lifelong hobby, informed much of his criticism of psychical research, which frequently centred on the possibility of deliberate cheating rather than purely statistical argument — including published critiques of self-described psychic Uri Geller. His public writing style was frequently described as sharp, derisive, and personal, earning him considerable and lasting antagonism from figures in fringe science and New Age movements.

Despite this reputation, Gardner was not an atheist — unusually among prominent sceptics of his generation, his scepticism of the paranormal coexisted with a personal theism, professing belief in a creator God while remaining critical of organised religion.

Public profile

Gardner was famously shy and avoided public speaking and lecture appearances throughout his life, reportedly declining honours that would have required him to appear in person to accept them. He nonetheless attended the first two "Gathering for Gardner" events organised by admirers in 1993 and 1996, and appeared without presenting at a CSICOP Executive Council meeting in Tampa Bay, Florida, in 1989.

Death

Gardner died on 22 May 2010, aged 95, at Norman Regional Hospital in Norman, Oklahoma, following a brief illness. James Randi, a longtime friend of some 50 years, described him as "a very bright spot in my firmament."

See also

• Skepticism
• Ray Hyman
• James Randi
• Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal
• Uri Geller

External links

• Center for Inquiry — Remembering Martin Gardner
• Linda Hall Library — Martin Gardner