stoutfellow: My summer look (Summer)
stoutfellow ([personal profile] stoutfellow) wrote2010-05-23 03:39 pm
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R. I. P. Martin Gardner

Damn.

Martin Gardner died yesterday. To say that he was a major influence on my developing worldview would be an understatement; my love for mathematics and science owes more to him than to anyone else, with the possible exception of Isaac Asimov. His Mathematical Recreations column in Scientific American was always a joy; as a teenager I read most of his published collections of columns, and now have the full set on CD. I've seen other people mention The Annotated Alice and others of his works; for me, The Ambidextrous Universe is the one I love most. I still use some ideas from it when I teach linear algebra.

Rest in peace, Mr. Gardner. You were too a mathematician!