Gathering for Gardner's Celebration of Mind II

October 21, 2011

Longtime acclaimed mathematics and science writer Martin Gardner, who introduced readers to the joys of recreational mathematics and bedeviled cranks and pseudoscientists, died in 2010. To mark what would have been Gardner’s 97th birthday on October 21, 2011, “Gathering for Gardner's Celebration of Mind II” gatherings will take place around the world to celebrate his legacy and continue his pursuit of playful and enjoyable approaches to mathematics, science, art, magic, and puzzles.

“Gathering for Gardner’s Celebration of Mind II” is sponsored by the Gathering 4 Gardner Foundation.

For the second year in a row, the Mathematical Association of America and ThinkFun will be hosting an evening of brief talks and hands-on fun with logic puzzles in MAA’s Carriage House in Washington, D.C. Speakers for the event include Dana Richards (George Mason University), Ivars Peterson (MAA), and Bill Ritchie (ThinkFun).

Martin Gardner was fascinated by puzzles and wrote the book Logic Machines and Diagrams, which details methods of solving logic problems by diagrams and by special-purpose machines. The speakers will offer an introduction to Gardner’s work on logic, describe some of the logic involved in various puzzles, and use ThinkFun’s new puzzle “Chocolate Fix” as an example of a logic puzzle that lends itself to classroom mathematical explorations and leads to interesting questions in computer science.

More information about Gardner, interviews, photos, and his award-winning articles are available in MAA’s Tribute to Martin Gardner.