This past weekend, Martin Gardner, a gifted and prolific popularizer of mathematics and science, passed away at 95. During his life, Gardner published more than 70 books and wrote the popular “Mathematical Games” column for Scientific American magazine for 25 years. As The New York Times obit notes, his mathematical writings “intrigued a generation of mathematicians,” and he earned the admiration of many leading intellectuals, including W. H. Auden, Arthur C. Clarke, Stephen Jay Gould, Vladimir Nabokov, and Carl Sagan. Not bad for a man who never took a college-level math course. Above, you will find a 46-minute video profile of Gardner from David Suzuki’s CBC television series “The Nature of Things.” It’s a great introduction to Gardner and his unique approach to math and science.
Thanks goes to Mike for sending the video our way.
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