A Belated Memory Of Martin Gardner
December 31, 2011 Leave a comment
What follows is a belated memory of Martin Gardner. I am grateful to him for his wonderful introductions to The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus and Queen Zixi of Ix by L.Frank Baum, the Night Before Christmas with all its wonderful imitators, his annotations of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, and, especially, his many annotations for Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass. I also enjoyed his work, The Ambidextrous Universe, which became the source of many discussions.
The only contact I had with him was when I sent him my topology and fractal interviews to look over. These interviews would become part of my book The Magicians of Form. Martin was kind enough to give me encouragement, and to refer me to the head of the American Mathematical Association. For all of the above and more, a belated thanks, Martin.