Martin Gardner (born October 21, 1914) is an American recreational mathematician and author of the long-running but now discontinued 'Mathematical Games' column in Scientific American.
Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Martin Gardner more or less singlehandedly sustained and nurtured interest in recreational mathematics for most of the 20th century. He is also interested in magic and the skeptical movement associated with James Randi. He lives in Norman, Oklahoma.
Occasional conferences of people sharing his interests, known as the Gatherings for Gardner, are held in his honour. The first was held in 1993.
In his column, he introduced many subjects to a wider audience, including:-
- Flexagons
- John Conway's Game of Life
- Polyominoes
- The Soma cube
- The board game "Nash", also called "Hex" and sometimes called "John", independently created by Piet Hein and John Forbes Nash
- Tangrams
- Penrose tiling
- cryptoanalysis/trapdoor ciphers
- many others... please add them here...
There is an asteroid named in honor of Martin Gardner (2587) Gardner.
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Selected works
Books
Collections of columns from Scientific American magazine
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External links