Martin Gardner: biography and photos. Martin Gardner's Mathematical Puzzles

Martin Gardner is a well-known mathematician who was born in America. In addition to his passion for this science, he is also a writer who has published a huge number of books. Gardner has shown himself to be an outstanding and versatile person, who throughout his life is fond of various fields of science.

Biography

Martin Gardner was born on October 21, 1914 in the United States of America, in the state of Oklahoma. After graduation, Martin attended college, which was founded by the University of Chicago. It was there that Martin Gardner was educated. After graduating from college, he already had a bachelor's degree in such a field of science as philosophy.

Military years

When the Second World War began, Martin was called to the front. The mathematician went to the American Navy, where he spent several years in the position of the ship's secretary, the yomen. The ship, which served Martin Gardner, was considered an escort destroyer. When the end of the war and the surrender of Japan were declared, the ship was in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

When the news came that the war was over, the writer was inexpressibly happy, because now he could do what he had been interested in since his early childhood, despite the fact that the service was not as difficult as it could have been.

End of the war

After the war was over, Martin returned to his native land. There he again took up his education and continued to study at the university. For a whole year Martin Martin studied to obtain a master's degree, but he failed to defend his work in order to obtain a higher degree.

Literary Activity

According to some information it is known that for many decades Martin Gardner lived with his family, which consisted of his beloved wife and two children, in Hastings-on-Hudson. It was there that an amateur mathematician began to develop in the literary field.

In order for the family to have a small but stable income, Martin had to work for a long time on the records, which he then published. In addition, Gardner also wrote a huge number of small articles for magazines and newspaper publishers.

One of these magazines was the printed edition of Humpty Dumpty, which is often called the American "Murzilka". It was in it that Gardner's essays were published. In addition, the writer was also the author of many stories and stories that were intended for the children's audience. Martin Gardner's puzzles brought him wide popularity among the young minds of America.

Peak of popularity

The peak of the writer's popularity was when he was carried away by creating various tasks and puzzles that were not only mathematical but also logical. One of these collections of puzzles were the tasks of Martin Gardner about the Sphinx. Since there was little information about the secret of the Sphinx, there were questions that could only be answered by a logical link from the conclusions drawn in the course of solving specific parts of the riddles.

It was useful for children, after all, answering questions and adding up the answers, they learned not only to reason logically, but also to draw conclusions about the results. The system for formulating a general conclusion on a specific topic looked something like this: "If this is this, and this is this, it turns out that it was like this." It was precisely such tasks that brought the greatest fame to the writer.

Mathematical puzzles and entertainment by Martin Gardner

In addition to his tasks, Martin was also the creator of many other logical games. The mathematical puzzles of Martin Gardner were very exciting, and won the public recognition. His works and games on entertaining mathematics became known to the whole world. For the writer himself, the word "entertaining" meant the same thing as "fascinating," "interesting in cognition." However, Martin himself rejected any connection of entertaining study with empty entertainment, saying that in the study of serious things these two concepts are nothing like each other and, rather, are absolute antonyms rather than distant synonyms.

In addition, in order to teach children to look for ways to solve complex problems, the author wrote a separate book that told how to correctly set a problem and find a method for solving it. Martin Gardner's book "There is an idea" began to enjoy wide success, as it turned out, not only among children, but also among the adult audience. Mathematics sometimes puzzled even adults, but stubborn people could not back down without finding an answer.

Literary works

Fame came not only because of the mathematical puzzles of Martin Gardner, but because of his talent in literature. The writer was also fond of the paranormal phenomena that took place in the world. Several books of mathematics were devoted to this topic. It can not be said that the paranormal phenomena became the main theme in the writer's work, although many works were written about the strange manifestations of another race in the everyday life of man. These works described his own observations and research, the conclusions to which Martin came. His books on the existence of another race and life have become no less famous among readers.

Fiction

In addition, Martin also wrote and works of art. For example, "The Island of Five Colors" can be found on the shelves of bookstores today. Having written several art books, Martin formed a separate manner of writing. And in fact, after reading at least one work of the writer, you can see that the language, which the author sets out, does not look like the language of any American classic. Today this style has received even a separate name - "Gardner", it is characterized by a convincing and vivid statement of the information, the accuracy of the facts, in an understandable and simple syllable. Often in the works of Martin, you can notice some paradoxes, completely new and modern judgments, which the author found in various scientific papers and journals.

The peculiarity of Martin Gardner's creativity lies in the fact that the author did not open something new to the reader, he only pushed him to study something new and still unknown. His works forced the reader to independently conduct some kind of research, analyze the information received, independently draw conclusions. These works helped people better understand the material they were studying. Constant research, independent conclusion - this became a kind of self-learning and self-education.

Books by the writer

• "This right, left world" (1967).
• "Mathematical puzzles and entertainment" (1971).
• "Mathematical Leisure" (1972).
• "Mathematical novels" (1974).
• "Mathematical miracles and mysteries" (1977).
• "The theory of relativity for millions" (1979).
• "There is an idea!" (1982).
• "Come on, guess!" (1984).
• "Tic-tac-toe" (1988).
• "Journey Through Time" (1990) and much more.

Personal life

Acquainted with his wife, Martin immediately realized that she was the woman who could support him throughout her life. The mutual feelings that have arisen between them, could create a strong alliance for many years. Understanding, supporting each other is something without which marriage is impossible. There was a strong connection between Martin and Charlotte.

After the wedding, the couple had two beautiful children - boys, who, growing up, showed themselves as smart and smart guys. The eldest son even received higher education and took up the post of professor of pedagogy at the University of Oklahoma. Martin's wife, Charlotte, died in 2000. This was a terrible loss for Gardner, who, already very young, spent his deep old age alone.

Sunset of life

In 2002, the writer decided to return to his homeland - to Oklahoma. The reason for this was the work of his son, who served as a professor at the University of Oklahoma. The son was glad of the arrival of his father, who was left completely alone in North Carolina, where his wife died. Continuing his literary career, Martin Gardner lived in Oklahoma until his very last days. But even at the end of his life the writer continued to create. The mathematical puzzles of Martin Gardner, which brought him recognition and love among children, continued to be printed, and so the mathematician continued to invent something new.

The writer died on May 22, 2010 in his native state at the age of 95 years. In the last hours that remained Martin, James's son was always near his father. Despite the fact that the writer lived a bright and interesting life, his death was a great loss not only for America, but for the whole world, because the works and books of Martin Gardner enjoyed wide popularity.

A few words at a time

Martin Gardner throughout his life developed. He tried himself in different ways of science, wrote many works (more than 70) about what he discovered, became known as the author of children's developing games. His achievements, despite the low position, can not be called outstanding. This person showed diligence, talent and the desire to comprehend the whole of his life. He showed knowledge in many scientific fields, so we can conclude how much the writer and mathematician was multifaceted in his own interests. Perseverance and the desire to achieve a new level of self-development - this is what characterizes Martin Gardner as a person. It is thanks to him that many people began to appreciate science, finding in it an infinite number of new areas that have not been thoroughly studied yet. It is Martin's life's work that has become for many people a stimulus for self-improvement.