Martin Gardner, author of numerous books on science, mathematics, and pseudo-science, has assembled thirty-four extraordinary essays by eminent philosophers, scientists, and writers on the fundamental aspects of modern science. As Gardner makes clear in his preface to the formerly titled Sacred Beetle and Other Great Essays in Science, his intent is not to teach the reader science or to report on the latest trends and discoveries. "Rather, the purpose of this book is to spread before the reader, whether his or her interest in science be passionate or mild, a sumptuous feast of great writing - absorbing, thought-disturbing pieces that have something to say about science and say it forcibly and well." Gardner's entertaining biographical commentaries make Great Essays in Science a rich store of good reading and an informal history of the people and ideas that have shaped our culture and transformed our everyday lives. This collection includes works by Isaac Asimov, Rachel Carson, Charles Darwin, John Dewey, Albert Einstein, Jean Henri Fabre, Sigmund Freud, Stephen Jay Gould, Aldous Huxley, Julian Huxley, William James, Ernest Nagel, Bertrand Russell, Carl Sagan, Lewis Thomas, H.G. Wells, and others.

This book contains scores of intriguing puzzles and paradoxes from Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice in Wonderland, whose interests ranged from inventing new games like Arithmetical Croquet to important problems in symbolic logic and propositional calculus. Written by Carroll expert and well-known mathematics author Martin Gardner, this tour through Carroll's inventions is both fun and informative.

Some famous poems ache to be parodied. In school they were forced down our throats, and though we can still remember a verse or two, their greatness may have escaped us. Take, for instance, Longfellow's famous "The Village Blacksmith":
Under a spreading chestnut-tree The village smithy stands; The smith, a mighty man is he With large and sinewy hands . . . .
Most of us have heard it, and may be able to recite a few verses. But many may prefer "The Minnesota Wrestler" by Armand T. Ringer:
Under the spreading repartee The St. Paul wrestler stands. The Body, a mighty man is he, With large and sinewy hands. . . .
Ventura's hair, once black and long, Departed long ago; His brow was wet with honest sweat When he worked as a wrestling pro.
Even original wits can set themselves up for later parody. When Dorothy Parker wrote, "Men seldom make passes/At girls who wears glasses," could she have foreseen this later take-off by Bob McKenty? "Men often get amorous/With gals who are mammarous."
Whether you love poetry or just don't get it, you will love these often hilarious poetic parodies. Martin Gardner has assembled his favorites, many by famous authors in their own right (Robert Sherwood, G.K. Chesterton, A.E. Housman, Bret Harte). Gardner does us the favor of putting the original poems first, followed by their parodies, thus providing a sampling of some of the best-known poems in English while demonstrating how easily the profound can be made to look ridiculous.

For more than twenty-five years, Martin Gardner was "Scientific American's" renowned provocateur of popular math. His yearly gatherings of short and inventive problems were easily his most anticipated math columns. Loyal readers would savor the wit and elegance of his explorations in physics, probability, topology, and chess, among others. Grouped by subject and arrayed from easiest to hardest, the puzzles gathered here, which complement the lengthier, more involved problems in "The Colossal Book of Mathematics," have been selected by Gardner for their illuminating; and often bewildering; solutions. Filled with over 300 illustrations, this new volume even contains nine new mathematical gems that Gardner, now ninety, has been gathering for the last decade. No amateur or expert math lover should be without this indispensable volume; a capstone to Gardner's seventy-year career.

Martin Gardner, the "Mathematical Games" columnist for Scientific American from 1956 to 1981, was also a philosopher, polymath, magician, religious thinker, and the author of more than 70 books, including The Annotated Alice, The Ambidextrous Universe, and Visitors from Oz. Here his life and works are celebrated in a bouquet of essays about him or in his honor. Introduced by his son Jim, the book includes reminiscences by Douglas Hofstadter, Morton N. Cohen, Scott Kim, David Singmaster, Michael Patrick Hearn, and many others; a festschrift contains essays by such writers as Raymond Smullyan and Robin Wilson. This volume also contains the final annotations Gardner made to the Alice books post-"Definitive Edition," and a definitive bibliography of his Carroll-related writings. While put together under the aegis of the Lewis Carroll Society of North America, it takes a far broader look at this remarkable man and his many interests and accomplishments.

"I have always been intrigued by fringe science," writes Martin Gardner in the preface to this book, "perhaps for the same reason that I enjoy freak shows and circuses. Pseudoscientists, especially the extreme cranks, are fascinating creatures for psychological study. Moreover, I have found that one of the best ways to learn something about any branch of science is to find out where its crackpots go wrong."
A unique combination of horse sense and drollery has made Martin Gardner the undisputed dean of the critics of pseudoscience. This bountiful collection of essays and articles will be wholeheartedly greeted by Gardner's fans, as well as by new readers.
This collection of articles - many of which first appeared in the Skeptical Inquirer, The New York Review of Books, and Free Inquiry - explores pseudoscience and strange religious beliefs with the author's trademark wit and verve. Destined to be a classic of skeptical literature, this book covers a wide range of topics - including UFOs, rainmaking, ghosts, the Big Bang, ESP, Oral Roberts, as well as the early history of spiritualism and today's bizarre "trance channeling" cults.

For many decades, Martin Gardner, the Grand Master of mathematical puzzles, has provided the tools and projects to furnish our all-too-sluggish minds with an athletic workout. Gardner's problems foster an agility of the mind as they entertain. This volume presents a new collection of problems and puzzles not previously published in book form. Martin Gardner has dedicated it to "all the underpaid teachers of mathematics everywhere, who love their subject and are able to communicate that love to their students."

Published in 1955 under the direction of psychiatrist William Sadler, "The Urantia Book" is the largest and most sophisticated work of New Age literature ever produced. This massive tome is believed by devotees to be a revelation to our world, which is allegedly called 'Urantia' in the language of the unseen higher beings credited with inspiring the book. Unlike other channelled 'bibles', "The Urantia Book" contains a vast amount of modern science as well as an extensive biography of Jesus Christ, filled with details not found in the Gospels. Well-known sceptic and acclaimed popular science writer Martin Gardner presents a complete history of the Urantia movement, from its beginnings in the early 20th century to the present day.In addition to providing an outline of the Urantia cult's worldview, Gardner presents strong evidence to establish the identity of the man whose trance-like orations formed the basis of the book. Gardner also analyzes the flaws in Urantian science and points out many instances of plagiarism in various sections of the book. In a new postscript to this paperback edition, Gardner details recent developments in the Urantia movement, corrects some errors in the original edition, and responds to critical reactions from Urantia believers to his sceptical perspective on the book and the movement. Although there are other histories of "The Urantia Book", this is the only one written by a sceptic. Anyone interested in the New Age, cults, or the development of new religions will find much fascinating material in Gardner's thorough overview.

The Yew Hedge by Martin Gardner from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh tells the fascinating story of some remarkable native forests and heritage trees of the European yew (Taxus baccata) located in the UK and overseas. The progeny of the trees have been planted to form a unique conservation hedge which now surrounds the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. It comprises of almost 2000 trees collected from 16 countries where they are threatened.

Plants from the Woods and Forests of Chile is a volume of high-quality botanical art depicting the rich diversity and beauty of Chile’s unique forested areas where for the last 25 years the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh has engaged in collaborative research and conservation initiatives. Featuring 81 unique watercolour paintings painstakingly and accurately record the minutest of details to bring alive the beautiful plant life of a fascinating part of the world.

The Magic Numbers of Dr. Matrix draws us into the intriguing and fascinating world of numbers and number theory. "Numbers, you know, have a mysterious life of their own. It would be naive," claims Dr. Matrix, "to suppose that there is such a thing as a randomly arranged group of symbols." Consider, for example, the decimal expansion of pi. Long considered a random series, it is actually rich with remarkable patterns. "Correctly interpreted," says Dr. Matrix, "pi conveys the entire history of the human race." Dr. Matrix uncovers patterns and signs that will astound you. As Dr. Matrix demonstrates, we need only look to find clues all around us in number and language "coincidences" that will unlock the mysteries of the universe. In The Magic Numbers of Dr. Matrix, Martin Gardner introduces us to this extraordinary man, Dr. Irving Joshua Matrix. Believed by many to be the greatest numerologist who ever lived, Dr. Matrix claims to be a reincarnation of Pythagoras. He was, however, completely unknown to the scientific community until Gardner wrote about him in Scientific American in 1960. That first report and the subsequent ones that appeared with each new encounter are collected here in their entirety. We follow Dr. Matrix as he roams the world and assumes new identities and discovers new manifestations of the power of numbers to explain and predict and entertain. Always at his side is his beautiful Eurasian daughter, Iva, who abets and protects her father in each new adventure. As you delve into The Magic Numbers of Dr. Matrix, you will master some significant combinatorial mathematics and number theory. The many remarkable puzzles of Dr. Matrix are all clearly answered in the back of the book, together with commentary and references by Gardner to enlighten the uninitiated and entertain the inquiring reader.

In this lively collection, Gardner examines the rich and hilarious variety of pseudoscientific conjectures that dominate the media today. With a special emphasis on parapsychology and occultism, these witty pieces address the evidence put forth to support claims of ESP, psychokinesis, faith healing, and other pseudoscience.

For many decades, Martin Gardner, the Grand Master of mathematical puzzles, has provided the tools and projects to furnish our all-too-sluggish minds with an athletic workout. Gardner's problems foster an agility of the mind as they entertain. This volume presents a new collection of problems and puzzles not previously published in book form. Martin Gardner has dedicated it to "all the underpaid teachers of mathematics everywhere, who love their subject and are able to communicate that love to their students."

Hexaflexagons, Probability Paradoxes, and the Tower of Hanoi is the inaugural volume in The New Martin Gardner Mathematical Library series. Based off of Gardener's enormously popular Scientific American columns, his puzzles and challenges can now fascinate a whole new generation! Paradoxes and paper-folding, Moebius variations and mnemonics, fallacies, magic square, topological curiosities, parlor tricks, and games ancient and modern, from Polyminoes, Nim, Hex, and the Tower of Hanoi to four-dimensional ticktacktoe. These mathematical recreations, clearly and cleverly presented by Martin Gardner, delight and perplex while demonstrating principles of logic, probability, geometry, and other fields of mathematics. Now the author, in consultation with experts, has added updates to all the chapters, including new game variations, mathematical proofs, and other developments and discoveries.

Martin Gardner continues to delight readers in Origami, Eleusis, and the Soma Cube, which is the second volume in the new Cambridge series, The New Martin Gardner Mathematical Library, based off his enormously popular Scientific American columns. He introduces young and old readers alike to the Generalized Ham Sandwich Theorem, origami, digital roots, magic squares, the mathematics of cooling coffee, the induction game of Eleusis, Dudeney puzzles, the maze at Hampton Court Palace, and many more mathematical puzzles and principles. Now the author, in consultation with experts, has added updates to all the chapters, including new game variations, mathematical proofs, and other developments and discoveries, to challenge and fascinate a new generation of readers.

The Flight of Peter Fromm is a novel of ideas disguised as the biography of a young man from a Pentecostal fundamentalist background in Oklahoma, who loses his faith while a student at the University of Chicago Divinity School. His spiritual odyssey is narrated by his mentor, a professor at the divinity school - who is actually a humanist who believes neither in God nor in an afterlife. Although Peter never abandons his theism or his admiration for Jesus, he reaches a point where he feels it would be hypocritical to remain within the church and to become the evangelist he had hoped to be.
The counterpoint between Peter and the narrator reflects the eternal conflict between theism and atheism. In following the changes of Peter's beliefs, almost every aspect of Protestant theology and ethics is explored. The evolution of Peter's faith parallels the evolution of Christian theology, from the day of Pentecost to contemporary liberal theology.

Packing spheres, Reversi, braids, polyominoes, board games, and the puzzles of Lewis Carroll. These and other mathematical diversions return to readers with updates to all the chapters, including new game variations, mathematical proofs, and other developments and discoveries. Read about Knuth's Word Ladders program and the latest developments in the digits of pi. Once again these timeless puzzles will charm readers while demonstrating principles of logic, probability, geometry, and other fields of mathematics.

Noted expert selects 70 "short" puzzles. The Returning Explorer, The Mutilated Chessboard, Scrambled Box Tops, and 67 more. Solutions included.

Of all of Martin Gardner's writings, none gained him a wider audience or was more central to his reputation than his Mathematical Recreations column in Scientific American, which virtually defined the genre of popular mathematics writing for a generation. Flatland, Hydras and Eggs: Mathematical Mystifications will be the final collection of these columns, covering a period roughly from 1979 to Gardner's retirement as a regular columnist in 1986. The notable trend over Gardner's career is the increasing sophistication of the mathematics he has been able to translate into his famously lucid prose. These columns show him at the top of his form and are not to be missed by anyone with an interest in mathematics. As always in his published collections, Gardner includes letters received from mathematicians and other commenting on the ideas presented in the columns.

Characters from "Wonderland" and "Through the Looking-Glass" populate these 88 puzzles involving word play, logic and metalogic, and philosophical paradoxes. The charmingly illustrated challenges range from easy to difficult and include solutions.

This book contains scores of intriguing puzzles and paradoxes from Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice in Wonderland, whose interests ranged from inventing new games like Arithmetical Croquet to important problems in symbolic logic and propositional calculus. Written by Carroll expert and well-known mathematics author Martin Gardner, this tour through Carroll's inventions is both fun and informative.

This beautifully designed model account includes important new information which will not only be of great interest to botanists, conservationist and horticulturists but also to local people who are dependent on the diminishing natural habitats in central and southern Chile.

Calculus Made Easy has long been the most popular calculus primer, and this major revision of the classic math text makes the subject at hand still more comprehensible to readers of all levels. With a new introduction, three new chapters, modernized language and methods throughout, and an appendix of challenging and enjoyable practice problems, Calculus Made Easy has been thoroughly updated for the modern reader.