Synopses & Reviews
For over fifty years Martin Gardner has been writing witty, entertaining, and highly intelligent articles on an amazing range of topics. Best known for his works on popular science and mathematics, and as an incisive skeptical commentator on the paranormal, Gardner is also an accomplished writer of children's literature, a novelist, and essayist on religion and philosophy. This collection of essays and book reviews takes its name from the bookend articles, "The Wandering Jew and the Second Coming" and "The Faith of William Buckley," which in themselves demonstrate the extent of Gardner's interests.
Besides the legend of the Wandering Jew, its relation to the Second Coming, and Bill Buckley's religious convictions, Gardner also takes on the subjects of astrology, psychic surgery, word play in the stories of L. Frank Baum (author of The Wizard of Oz), and the history of a forgotten children's magazine. In addition, there are reviews of books by astronomer Carl Sagan, philosopher Paul Edwards, and science fiction writer H. G. Wells, along with commentary on mathematics, Lewis Carroll, chess, Christian Science, science fads, and more.
Longtime Gardner fans and intellectually curious newcomers will welcome this entertaining and literate collection by one of America's most brilliant essayists.
About the Author
Martin Gardner, the creator of Scientific Americans "Mathematical Games" column, which he wrote for more than twenty-five years, is the author of almost one hundred books, including The Annotated Ancient Mariner, Martin Gardners Favorite Poetic Parodies, From the Wandering Jew to William F. Buckley Jr., and Science: Good, Bad and Bogus. For many years he was also a contributing editor to the Skeptical Inquirer.
Table of Contents
The wandering Jew and the second coming -- Life magazine and astrology -- Oral Roberts on Jim Bakker -- Psychic surgery in the Philippines -- The incredible flimflams of Margaret Rowen -- The sad saga of Dr. Bert Fullmer -- The comic pratfalls of Robert Reidt -- John Martin's Book : a forgetten children's magazine -- Word play in the fantasies of L. Frank Baum -- Hugo Gernsback -- Carl Sagan's Demon-haunted World -- Paul Edward's Reincarnation -- Behind the crystal ball -- The story of a chess prodigy -- Jim Bakker and Tammy Faye -- Morton Cohen's Life of Lewis Carroll -- Lewis Carroll, photographer -- Books and bookshelves -- Two books on Christian Science and Mary Baker Eddy -- The meme meme :paradigm shift or frivolous fad? -- What is mathematics, really? -- The number sense -- Introductions to Three books by H.G. Wells -- Edward Bellamy's year 2000 -- Afterword to The scarecrow of Oz -- Introduction to The marvelous land of Oz -- Introduction to The ball and the cross -- Introduction to The Napoleon of Notting Hill -- The faith of William Buckley.