MARTIN GARDNER
(1914-2010)
Sadly, I never met Martin Gardner who died on Saturday at the age of 94, but he has been a literary hero of mine for 50 years ever since I first read The Annotated Alice in which he told me so much about Lewis Carroll, his two Alice books and the poem The Hunting of the Snark that he began what has been my life-long fascination with the creator of Wonderland.
Gardner shared several interests with Charles Dodgson and his Carrollian doppelgänger: mathematics, logic, linguistics, puzzles, paradoxes, philosophy, theology and magic.
And again and again, both men's lives and works have intersected with my own life in a series of what I like to think of a 'eccentric circles' - including (despite being a numeric dunce) a fascination with the power and potency of numbers.
This little film, from the television series The Nature of Things, celebrates the life of this extraordinary man. Even if you've never heard of Martin Gardner before, I hope you'll be pleased to have learned his name by the time you've finished watching this fascinating insight into the thoughts of a man whose career was devoted to seeking and sharing insights into the mysteries of life...
(1914-2010)
Sadly, I never met Martin Gardner who died on Saturday at the age of 94, but he has been a literary hero of mine for 50 years ever since I first read The Annotated Alice in which he told me so much about Lewis Carroll, his two Alice books and the poem The Hunting of the Snark that he began what has been my life-long fascination with the creator of Wonderland.Gardner shared several interests with Charles Dodgson and his Carrollian doppelgänger: mathematics, logic, linguistics, puzzles, paradoxes, philosophy, theology and magic.
And again and again, both men's lives and works have intersected with my own life in a series of what I like to think of a 'eccentric circles' - including (despite being a numeric dunce) a fascination with the power and potency of numbers.
This little film, from the television series The Nature of Things, celebrates the life of this extraordinary man. Even if you've never heard of Martin Gardner before, I hope you'll be pleased to have learned his name by the time you've finished watching this fascinating insight into the thoughts of a man whose career was devoted to seeking and sharing insights into the mysteries of life...
Thanks for the link; a fascinating show about a fascinating man!
ReplyDeleteYes, GALEN, both an enquiring and playful mind.
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