Undiluted Hocus-Pocus

Martin Gardner (1914-2010) was an acclaimed popular mathematics and science writer. His numerous books include The Annotated Alice, When You Were a Tadpole and I Was a Fish, and Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science.

• Foreword: Magic, Mathematics, and Mysterians, by Persi Diaconis xi Preface xxiii Prologue: I Am a Mysterian xxv 1 Earliest Memories 1 2 Lee School 10 3 Tulsa Central High, I 21 4 Central High, II 28 5 Hutchins and Adler 40 6 Richard McKeon 47 7 I Lose My Faith 53 8 Chicago, I 62 9 Chicago, II 76 10 I Become a Journalist 88 11 Mother and Dad 98 12 The Navy, I 111 13 The Navy, II 119 PHOTO ESSAY follows page 124 14 Esquire and Humpty 125 15 Scientific American 134 16 Pseudoscience 150 17 Math and Magic Friends 160 18 Charlotte 173 19 Bob and Betty 185 20 God 191 21 My Philosophy 195 Afterword: My Most Elegant Friend ... , by James Randi 209 Index 215

One of American Association for the Advancement of Science's Books for General Audiences and Young Adults 2014 "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 "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 "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 "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 "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 "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 magazine "His illuminating autobiography, Undiluted Hocus-Pocus ... offers a rare, intimate look at Gardner's life and work."--Mother Nature Network "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 "[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 blog "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 blog "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 "[This book] will be an eye-opener knowing that Martin Gardner was active on so many diverse fields."--European Mathematical Society "The book is just a delight to read."--Stephen Hirtle, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "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 "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 blog "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 "[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 "A delightful book."--Peter E. Blau, Red Circle Society "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 "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 "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 "A very interesting read."--Christopher Hollings, Mathematics Today