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Undiluted Hocus-Pocus: The Autobiography of Martin Gardner Kindle Edition
“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
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.
“His radiant self lives on in his massive and luminous literary output and shines at its sweetest, wittiest and most personal in Undiluted Hocus-Pocus.” —The New York Times Book Review
“Here my guru and sage brought together, over the course of two hundred pages, the full range of his interests—math, magic, philosophy, stories, poetry, science, religion, politics—and combined these disparate topics with an account of his private life and intellectual development. I enjoyed every page of this book.” —Ted Gioia, Millions
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherPrinceton University Press
- Publication dateSeptember 30, 2013
- File size5.4 MB
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Review
"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." ― Publishers Weekly
"Undiluted Hocus-Pocus reminds us how Gardner taught many of us how to play the game of mathematics better." ― Mathrecreation blog
"A case can be made, in purely practical terms, for Martin Gardner as one of the most influential writers of the 20th century. His popularizations of science and mathematical games in Scientific American, over the 25 years he wrote for them, might have helped create more young mathematicians and computer scientists than any other single factor prior to the advent of the personal computer. . . . Gardner was capable of appealing to the literary side of left-brained sorts, and did so with . . . taste and restraint. . . . Undiluted Hocus-Pocus, his posthumously published autobiography . . . reveals the sort of mentality that shaped itself around his encyclopedic interests."---David Auerbach, Los Angeles Review of Books
"Here my guru and sage brought together, over the course of two hundred pages, the full range of his interests--math, magic, philosophy, stories, poetry, science, religion, politics--and combined these disparate topics with an account of his private life and intellectual development. I enjoyed every page of this book."---Ted Gioia, Millions
"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
"A very interesting read."---Christopher Hollings, Mathematics Today
"His illuminating autobiography, Undiluted Hocus-Pocus . . . offers a rare, intimate look at Gardner's life and work." ― Mother Nature Network
"A delightful book."---Peter E. Blau, Red Circle Society
"[This book] will be an eye-opener knowing that Martin Gardner was active on so many diverse fields." ― European Mathematical Society
"For those of us who believe that the sciences and the humanities don't have to be enemies, Martin Gardner is an inspiring model. Undiluted Hocus-Pocus reveals a man immersed in philosophy, religion and literature, even as he makes a career writing about science."---Jordan Ellenberg, Wall Street Journal
"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
"[H]ighly readable. Even those well familiar with Gardner's writings, although they will be acquainted with much of the ground covered, will still make several new discoveries. The foreword by Persi Diaconis will also interest mathematicians."---Leon Harkleroad, Zentralblatt Math
"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
"Martin Gardner as one of those rare and valuable writers who could venture into the worlds of science and mathematics as an intelligent and interested layman, and then entertain the rest of us with his discoveries."---Jon Wainwright, Skeptic Magazine
"The style is that of a memoir, conversationally phrased, and not afraid to be sidetracked occasionally by an amusing aside. Gardner paints vividly an inside picture of American intellectual life in the twentieth century, coloured by honest accounts of the many influential figures with whom he came into contact."---Alexander Shannon, Plus
"In summary, I give this book the highest praise that I can possibly give an autobiography: it was much too short."---Charles Ashbacher, MAA Reviews
"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
"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
"For half a century, Martin Gardner (1914-2010) was an international scientific treasure. . . . Gardner's passion for writing and his warmth and humour shine forth on every page of this book, making it a memoir of a great human being."---David Singmaster, Nature
"The book is just a delight to read."---Stephen Hirtle, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"[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
"For all his fame, Gardner was a humble, generous man, always modest about his mathematical achievements. His humanity, humor, and sheer decency shine through every page. Reading this book is like chatting with him about his intellectually adventure-filled life for a whole weekend."---Colm Mulcahy, Math Horizons
"His radiant self lives on in his massive and luminous literary output and shines at its sweetest, wittiest and most personal in Undiluted Hocus-Pocus."---Teller, New York Times Book Review
Review
"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
From the Inside Flap
"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 ofCycles 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 ofMagical 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 ofWhat's Happening in the Mathematical Sciences
From the Back Cover
"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
About the Author
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
UNDILUTED HOCUS-POCUS
THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MARTIN GARDNER
By MARTIN GARDNERPRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
Copyright © 2013 James Gardner as Managing General Partner, Martin Gardner Literary Interests, GPAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-691-15991-1
Contents
Foreword: Magic, Mathematics, and Mysterians, by Persi Diaconis............xiPreface....................................................................xxiiiPrologue: I Am a Mysterian.................................................xxv1 Earliest Memories........................................................12 Lee School...............................................................103 Tulsa Central High, I....................................................214 Central High, II.........................................................285 Hutchins and Adler.......................................................406 Richard McKeon...........................................................477 I Lose My Faith..........................................................538 Chicago, I...............................................................629 Chicago, II..............................................................7610 I Become a Journalist...................................................8811 Mother and Dad..........................................................9812 The Navy, I.............................................................11113 The Navy, II............................................................11914 Esquire and Humpty......................................................12515 Scientific American.....................................................13416 Pseudoscience...........................................................15017 Math and Magic Friends..................................................16018 Charlotte...............................................................17319 Bob and Betty...........................................................18520 God.....................................................................19121 My Philosophy...........................................................195Afterword: My Most Elegant Friend ..., by James Randi......................209Index......................................................................215CHAPTER 1
EARLIEST MEMORIES
I have always loved colors. All colors. To me theability to see colors is one of God's great blessings.(Yes, Virginia, there is a God. In my final chapter Iexplain why I call myself a philosophical theist.)Searching my brain for the earliest event I can recall,the best I can come up with is a memory involvingcolors while I was being carried in my father's arms ona fine autumn day in Tulsa. The ground was coveredwith dead maple leaves. I pointed to a leaf and somehowindicated I wanted it. My dad picked it up andhanded it to me. It was gorgeously blazing with redsand browns and yellows.
My mother, too, was fond of colors. When she was akindergarten teacher in Lexington, Kentucky, trainedin the Montessori Method, she liked to teach her childrenthe names of colors. I remember when she madefor me six balls of yarn, three bright with the primarycolors, three with the secondary colors. She wouldpoint to objects in a room and ask me to name theircolor. Late in life, when she studied art under AdahRobinson, at Tulsa University, she reveled in the colorsof dozens of still lifes she painted.
Miss Robinson was well known in Tulsa as designerof the Boston Avenue Methodist Church, which weattended. She also designed the interior of Tulsa'sFirst Church of Christ, Scientist. Her oil portrait ofmy mother is owned by Tulsa's Gilcrease Museum.
I remember one day, when I was a child in bed withsome illness, my mother brought a box of watercolorsto the bed and on a sheet of paper painted a pictureof a sunset. I can still vividly recall its glowing colors.
Hanging in our large house at 2187 South OwassoStreet, Tulsa, were several watercolors by the Kentuckyartist Paul Sawyier, a painter my mother greatlyadmired. Many years later I sold to a gallery in Frankfort,Kentucky, reproduction rights to a Sawyierpicture of a covered bridge. He is Kentucky's mostfamous artist. There is a room devoted to his work inFrankfort's capitol building. You can buy a huge volumeabout his paintings.
An indication of my mother's love of colors washer enormous delight in seeing a rainbow. She alwayslooked for one if there was a shower accompanied bysunshine, especially from a sun low in the sky. Shewould rush outside to look for a bow. If there was one,she would hurry to the phone and call a dozen friends,urging them to go outside to see the bow. To paraphrasea familiar couplet by Wordsworth:
Her heart leaps up when she beholdsA rainbow in the sky.
Now that I am an old man, my heart still leaps upwhen I, too, see a rainbow. It made a high leap onemorning when I saw a secondary bow. The wonderfulthing about a rainbow is that it is not something "outthere" in the sky. It exists only on the retinas of eyesor on photographic film. Your image in a mirror issimilar. It's not a thing behind the looking glass. Bythe way, what does a mirror look like when there's noone in the room? And why does a mirror reverse leftand right but not up and down?
Over the living room's fireplace, in our OwassoStreet home, was an oil painting by a famous Dutchartist, Bernard Pothast (1882–1966). It showed amother and child blowing bubbles. I remember admiringthe shifting colors of bubbles blown by me andmy mother, and trying to catch them. One of Mother'sfavorite songs was "I'm forever blowing bubbles,pretty bubbles in the air. They fly so high, they nearlyreach the sky, then like my dreams they fade and die.Fortune's always hiding, I've looked everywhere. I'mforever blowing bubbles. Pretty bubbles in the air." Ihave also not forgotten the tune, which I enjoy playingon my musical saw.
Yes, I play the saw. One of G. K. Chesterton's familiaraphorisms is that if anything is worth doing, it isworth doing badly. I play the saw badly. Like SherlockHolmes and his violin, when I have nothing betterto do, I take down my saw from a wall hook, alongwith a felt-tipped wooden mallet, and relax for half anhour tapping out familiar tunes. There are of coursehundreds to pick from, including gospel golden oldieswith crude lyrics I have been unable to forget.
Bouncing a left leg adds vibrato to the saw's puretones. I have yet to advance, perhaps never will, tousing a cello bow instead of a mallet to keep the sawvibrating. I doubt if many readers know that MarleneDietrich was a saw virtuoso. She even gave concerts!In my crazy novel Visitors from Oz, I have Dorothyplaying the saw on an Oprah Winfrey show, havinglearned how to play it from Kansas farmhands. TheTin Woodman provides bass by thumping his hollowchest with his tin fists.
L. Frank Baum, who created Oz, is one of my literaryheroes. He was so fond of colors that he dividedOz into five regions, each with a dominant color. Onthe east is Munchkin territory where the color is blue.To the west is Winkie country where the dominantcolor is yellow. Purple tinges the wild northern regionof Oz, and red dominates the southern Quadlingcountry where Glinda lives. In the center of Oz is thegreen Emerald City. (If I ever write another Oz book,I'll introduce Orangeville where the dominant color isorange.) I persuaded my parents to buy all of Baum'sfourteen Oz books as well as all his non-Oz fantasies,some of which—Sky Island, for example—I considerbetter written than many of his Oz books.
When I was a boy, I was so fond of green that mymother had my bedroom walls papered green. To thisday when I see a small girl dressed in blue, I think ofher as a munchkin. If I'm served bright green Jell-O, Ican't help momentarily imagining I'm in the EmeraldCity.
As an adult I had the immense pleasure of joiningJack Snow, author of two Oz books and Who's Who inOz, and Justin Schiller in founding the InternationalWizard of Oz Club. (See the chapter on "How the OzClub Started" in my book The Jinn from Hyperspace.) Itwas Justin who at age fourteen started what he calledthe Baum Bugle. It consisted then of several mimeographedsheets stapled together. On its masthead I'mlisted as Chairman of the Board of Directors! Todaythe Oz Club holds four annual conventions in fourAmerican cities and publishes a handsome scholarlyquarterly still called the Baum Bugle.
At about the time the Oz Club got underway, andhundreds of members of all ages suddenly discoveredthey were not alone in their love of the Oz books,American critics and librarians had almost no interestin Baum. One woman scholar wrote a book of morethan four hundred pages on the history of juvenile literature.It contained not a single mention of Baum!While the Judy Garland movie was introducing millionsof children to Oz, the head of Detroit's librariesproudly announced that he considered the Oz booksso unsuitable for children that he did not allow suchbooks in any city library! This so infuriated a Detroitnewspaper that it serialized The Wizard of Oz, headingeach episode with a statement that this is the bookyour child can't get in any Detroit library. After a raftof articles about Baum began to appear in prestigiousjournals, the librarians began to change their minds.A turning point came when Columbia University'slibrary, headed by Roland Baughman, a Baum enthusiast,sponsored an exhibit of first editions of all ofBaum's books. The catalog of that exhibit is now arare collector's item.
Only a few years before Columbia's exhibit I hadpublished in Fantasy and Science Fiction, edited by Ozbuff Anthony Boucher, a two-part biography of Baum.It listed for the first time a fairly complete bibliographyof all of Baum's books. This included books publishedunder various pseudonyms, such as his seriesof books for girls written under the name of EdithVan Dyne. Before my biography ran, I visited a usedbookstore in New Jersey where I bought all the VanDyne books for twenty-five cents each. After my biographyappeared, book dealers who had never realizedthey had Baum books in stock, jumped the prices totwenty dollars.
I learned to read by looking over my mother's shoulderwhile she read aloud The Wizard of Oz. I simply followedthe words as she spoke. This created a problemfor me in the first grade. A teacher would holdup cards with words such as dog and cat, and I wouldbe the first to call them out. The teacher forced me tokeep quiet while she worked with other children. Ofcourse this meant I had to sit in silent boredom.
As an adult I wrote introductions to six Dover paperbacksof Baum's best fantasies about enchanted landsother than Oz. Finally I wrote an Oz book myself, Visitorsfrom Oz. It is not for children, but aimed at adultsfamiliar with the Oz books. It tells of the adventuresof Dorothy, Scarecrow, and Tin Woodman in the Gillikinregion of Oz, followed by their visit to New YorkCity to publicize a new musical about Oz. I revealfor the first time that Lewis Carroll's Wonderland isactually underground in Oz, that Mary Poppins livesin Oz, and that the exiled Greek gods have found ahome on a small Mount Olympus in Oz. The New YorkTimes called my book "a poor thing of a novel," butto my surprise (because Baum is little known in England)the London Times Literary Supplement gave thenovel a long and favorable review.
Another of my literary heroes who was fond of colorsis Gilbert Chesterton. One of his best short stories,"The Coloured Lands," first appeared in a posthumousbook by the same name. In an introduction fora Dover reprint, I summarized the story this way:
"The Coloured Lands" is a short tale about a strangeyoung man who lets a boy named Tommy look throughfour spectacles with colored glass that turn everythinginto blue, red, yellow, or green. The man tells Tommythat when he was a child he had been fascinated by coloredglasses, but soon tired of seeing the world in singlecolors. In a rose-red city, he explains, you can't see thecolor of a rose because everything is red. At the suggestionof a powerful wizard, the man was told to paint thescenery any way he liked:
"So I set to work very carefully; first blocking in agreat deal of blue, because I thought it would throwup a sort of square of white in the middle; and thenI thought a fringe of a sort of dead gold would lookwell along the top of the white; and I spilt some greenat the bottom of it. As for red, I had already found outthe secret about red. You have to have a very little of itto make a lot of it. So I just made a row of little blobsof bright red on the white just above the green; and asI went on working at the details, I slowly discoveredwhat I was doing; which is what very few people everdiscover in this world. I found I had put back, bit bybit, the whole of that picture over there in front of us.I had made that white cottage with the thatch andthat summer sky behind it and that green lawn below;and the row of the red flowers just as you see themnow. That is how they come to be there. I thought youmight be interested to know it."
Chesterton's fiction glows with color words. Thereare beautiful descriptions of sunrises and sunsets.He liked to put red hair on the women in his novels,even occasionally on men. Trained at a commercialart school—G. K. never went to college—heloved to draw with colored chalk on brown paper. You'll findsome of his color sketches in The Coloured Lands. Oneof his finest essays, "The Glory of Gray," is about howgray backgrounds enhance the brilliance of any color.I have always regretted that G. K. never read an Ozbook. I think the colors of Oz would have delightedhim as much as they delighted me.
Only a few other memories of my very early yearsfloat to mind as worth telling. My parents' first house,on the north side of Tulsa, was a tiny one. I remembernothing about it except that it had an outdoor pumpat which my mother drew water. Tulsa then was a smallvillage without running water. My only memory of thehouse is of a cook killing a chicken in the backyard bysnapping off its head, and how the poor bird flappedheadlessly about the grass for several minutes.
Our second and larger house was on North Denverand is still there. I have only dim memories of it, suchas standing on a top step and touching the ceiling witha hand. I remember falling off a sofa and breaking myleft wrist. I recall being in a hospital for circumcision,the reason for which puzzled me at the time. And Ican remember having my tonsils removed, and enjoyingice cream for several days.
I can't resist including an amusing incident thatoccurred before I was old enough to remember it. Iknow of it only because I later heard my father tellit. My parents and I were visiting my father's brother,Uncle Emmett, in Louisville, Kentucky. He was oneof the state's earliest psychiatrists, with a practice sosuccessful that he founded and ran the city's first mentalhospital. He was a tall, handsome man with redhair and a curious tongue that was crisscrossed withdeep furrows. Like my father he had a great sense ofhumor. He enjoyed hearing and telling jokes aboutpsychiatrists and their patients. For example, a patienttold his psychiatrist he couldn't sleep at night becauseof the smell of a goat he kept in his bedroom with allwindows closed.
"Why don't you open a window?" the psychiatristasked.
"And let all my pigeons out?"
One day Uncle Emmett started to tell me a riddleabout a duck in front of two ducks, a duck behind twoducks, and a duck in the middle of two ducks. Howmany ducks were there? Emmett forgot to withholdthe answer. He began by saying, "There were threeducks"; then he caught his mistake and broke intoloud guffaws.
That, however, is not the event my dad liked to tell.One night on our visit to Louisville I shared a bedwith my uncle. During the night I awoke with a strongurge to urinate. Uncle Emmett, half asleep, took anempty glass off a bedside table and held it while Irelieved myself. He put the glass back on the table andwe both went back to sleep. In the morning we foundthe bed soaked. The glass was upside down!
Emmett, I should add, was far ahead of his time inhis low opinion of Freud. I once asked him what hethought about the then popular books by an Americanpsychoanalyst, Karen Horney. He had never heardof her!
CHAPTER 2
LEE SCHOOL
You were my queen in calico.I was your bashful, barefoot beau.
—1907 song by Will Cobb and Gus Edwards
I attended grades one through six at Lee School,a redbrick building within walking distance of whereI lived at 2187 South Owasso. The house was largeenough to accommodate my grandmother Lucy; herbrother, Uncle Owen; my younger brother, Jim; andlater my sister, Judith. Lee School is still there. I havehappy memories of my teachers, especially Mrs. Polk,who had all her students reading and memorizinglarge chunks of popular verse. I can still recite all ofLongfellow's "The Day Is Done" and the first stanza ofNoyes's "The Highwayman":
The wind was a torrent of darkness
among the gusty trees.
The moon was a ghostly galleon
tossed upon cloudy seas.
The road was a ribbon of moonlight
over the purple moor,
And the highwayman came riding—
Riding—riding—
The highwayman came riding, up to the
old inn-door.
Mrs. Polk's enthusiasm for poetry was catching. Alas,we also had to memorize one of her own poems, whichwere close to doggerel. I still recall how it began:
When I see a star with its mellow light aglow
I think of Him who placed it there
A million years ago.
Mrs. Polk was an avid reader of mystery fiction. Atthe time The Bishop Murder Case, by S. S. Van Dine,was being serialized in a periodical, and she and I hadbeen reading the installments. She phoned one dayto ask if I had figured out who the serial killer was. Ihadn't, but she had, and she proved to be absolutelycorrect.
One afternoon when Mrs. Polk visited our home, Ishowed her what magicians call a four-ace trick. Theaces are at the bottom of four piles of cards of fourcards each. An onlooker selects a pile. The aces thenvanish from the other three piles and appear in thechosen pile. The trick has endless variations.
My version used three double-faced cards—acesthat become other cards when turned over. Mrs. Polkwas much impressed. I mention this here because it ismy earliest memory of having shown a magic trick toanyone outside my family, and because it shows howyoung I was to be interested in conjuring.
(Continues...)Excerpted from UNDILUTED HOCUS-POCUS by MARTIN GARDNER. Copyright © 2013 James Gardner as Managing General Partner, Martin Gardner Literary Interests, GP. Excerpted by permission of PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Product details
- ASIN : B00F0KZE88
- Publisher : Princeton University Press
- Accessibility : Learn more
- Publication date : September 30, 2013
- Edition : Annotated
- Language : English
- File size : 5.4 MB
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 265 pages
- ISBN-13 : 978-1400847983
- Page Flip : Enabled
- Best Sellers Rank: #924,023 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #86 in Mathematics Recreation & Games
- #641 in Scientist Biographies
- #1,528 in Science History & Philosophy
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Customers find the autobiography engaging, with one noting it contains a hodgepodge of information. The book is entertaining to read. However, several customers consider it a waste of time. Moreover, the writing quality receives negative feedback, with one customer describing it as poorly written for magicians.
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Customers find the book engaging, with one noting it contains a hodgepodge of information, while another mentions how his love for magic sustained him throughout his career.
"...He covers all aspects of his careers, but you can see his love for magic carried him through...." Read more
"...The resulting book contains a hodgepodge of information - not always in logical order - that is interesting to anyone who is a Gardner fan - his..." Read more
"...is basically long list of names of people whom Gardner knew, without much details and in many occasions simply wrong attributions..." Read more
"...He was endlessly curious and generous about sharing the results of his explorations with the rest of us. He also writes well and entertainingly...." Read more
Customers find the book entertaining.
"...of what Gardner published elsewhere because what it contains is a lot of fun to read." Read more
"...He also writes well and entertainingly...." Read more
"mostly amusing but perhaps too much name dropping..." Read more
Customers find the book a waste of time.
"...and is a waste of time. Do not buy it, save $14 for two or even three better books." Read more
"I found this book a total waste of my time from start to finish. He does not provide any insight to his works...." Read more
"...disappointed to learn that he found the book tedious, over-written, a bore...." Read more
Customers criticize the writing quality of the book, with one noting it is poorly written for magicians and another mentioning it is badly edited.
"...The book is very badly edited (does anybody at Amazon do proofing and DTP before books are "published"?!) and is a waste of time...." Read more
"...work, I was disappointed to learn that he found the book tedious, over-written, a bore...." Read more
"Poorly Written for Magicians..." Read more
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on October 31, 2013Format: KindleVerified PurchaseI really don't like auto biographies or biographies for that matter. they seem like poorly written fiction. but I've always loved Martin Gardner, so I thought, after much hesitation, I'd give it a try. It was fantastic. For one thing he has met so many interesting a varied people - and he never shies away from telling you exactly what he though of those people - but being Gardner, he doesn't seem to have a mean bone in his body, so his analysis about their beliefs doesn't get in the way of genuinely appreciating all those people. He covers all aspects of his careers, but you can see his love for magic carried him through. He is very frank about his limitations in math, but still won the admiration of many very sophisticated mathematicians.
I wonder what it is about growing up in the midwest in the 20's and 30's that seemed to tilt so many into amateur magic.
- Reviewed in the United States on October 29, 2013Format: HardcoverVerified PurchaseI've been a Gardner fan since reading his Fads And Fallacies more than 50 years ago. This book seems to be a garnering of bits and pieces he left lying around when he died at a ripe old age, laden with honor. They were assembled by his friends (especially, I think, Persi Diaconis) as a final tribute. The resulting book contains a hodgepodge of information - not always in logical order - that is interesting to anyone who is a Gardner fan - his childhood in Tulsa, his years in Chicago, including his formative experience at the University of Chicago, and his struggles to make a living as a professional editor and writer. One must overlook the disorganization and gaps and repetitions of what Gardner published elsewhere because what it contains is a lot of fun to read.
- Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2014Format: HardcoverVerified PurchaseMartin Gardner had one of the livliest minds of the 20th century. He was endlessly curious and generous about sharing the results of his explorations with the rest of us. He also writes well and entertainingly. I especially appreciate his hard work on "The Annotated Alice," which introduces Americans to one of the wisest and wittiest books in the English language. Lewis Carroll's two masterpieces are known to every educated English person, and widely quoted. Americans are not so wise & also tend to misunderstand these volumes as being for girls only. Gardner, appreciating them greatly, broadened their acceptance. He also presented math in ways which helped those who fear the subject - since he so obviously loved math.
- Reviewed in the United States on December 21, 2013Format: HardcoverVerified PurchaseThe "Scientific American" column on mathematical games was written by Martin Gardner for decades. It was always the first article I would turn to when I received my latest issue of "Scientific American." This book was written as an autobiography by Martin Gardner to be published after his death. It is interesting but it is not what I expected, and, in my estimation, not as good as any one of his columns. I did not complete reading the book.
- Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2014Format: KindleVerified PurchaseI admire many people but if there is one person whose life I really envy, it is Mr. Gardner. He seems to have read everything worth reading with attention and care.
- Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2013Format: KindleVerified PurchaseAs a youngster I loved reading Martin Gardner's column in Scientific American, so I bought this book hoping that it will reveal how he worked and invented so many interesting materials. However, reading this autobiography (and I am big fan of biographies, in fact I mostly nowadays read them, not fiction) I was highly disappointed. This is basically long list of names of people whom Gardner knew, without much details and in many occasions simply wrong attributions (e.g. Jake Neufeld, mentioned on page 90, was physicist, not mathematician, who worked with Fermi in Chicago and later on in Oak Ridge National Lab, publishing many papers on radiation interaction with matter). The book is very badly edited (does anybody at Amazon do proofing and DTP before books are "published"?!) and is a waste of time. Do not buy it, save $14 for two or even three better books.
- Reviewed in the United States on March 18, 2014Format: KindleVerified PurchasePerhaps, since I've not read any other Gardner books, I'm a poor judge. But I am a magician and so much of this book resonated with me. It is a rambling discourse, but it also has many moments of deep fascination. Despite its shortcomings, I'm glad I read it.
- Reviewed in the United States on February 18, 2014Format: HardcoverVerified PurchaseExcellent book by one of the greatest puzzle masters of this century. His life and works are most fascinating,
and should be of extreme interest to the general public.
Top reviews from other countries
- Ken W.Reviewed in Australia on July 9, 2014
2.0 out of 5 stars Weak and self indulgent.
Format: KindleVerified PurchaseSays nothing about the ideas behind his most popular books. A very ordinary and trivial life story. Not particularly interesting.
- Michel RochonReviewed in Canada on February 24, 2021
5.0 out of 5 stars A colorful autobiography of a great thinker
Format: HardcoverVerified PurchaseThe personal battle between faith and science for this great science journalist that inspired generations of scientists...his last book of more than 100...a must read!
- Chris MartinReviewed in the United Kingdom on November 28, 2017
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Format: HardcoverVerified PurchaseMagic
- Bob OrrReviewed in Canada on December 16, 2013
1.0 out of 5 stars Extremely disappointing
Format: HardcoverVerified PurchaseI found this book extremely disappointing. I have been a fan of Gardiner since I first started reading Mathematical Games in the Scientific American about forty years ago. I have read and own most of the books he wrote, and I found each and every one of them fascinating and amusing. The present book looks as if it has been assembled posthumously from various fragments. It is repetitive and rambling. The final chapter about his beliefs is much better covered in his book "The Whys of a Philosophical Scrivener". There is nothing in this book that is not covered better in books he actually wrote. If you want disconnected meaningless anecdotes about friends and family, it may interest you. Otherwise, do not buy this book. Use the money you save to buy one of the excellent books that he actually wrote.
- emmetclarkeReviewed in the United Kingdom on June 13, 2016
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchasemade me cy: