The Associated Press has reported that the godfather of the modern skeptical movement, Martin Gardner, has passed away. Gardner exerted a profound influence upon numerous academics via his ‘Mathematical Games’ column in Scientific American, was a skilled and knowledgable contributor to the (performance) magic community, and with his 1952 book Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science is seen by many as the man who kick-started skeptical activism in the modern age. His long-time friend James Randi has written a short blog about his passing:
Martin Gardner has died. I have dreaded to type those words, and Martin would not have wanted to know that I’m so devastated at what I knew – day to day – had to happen very soon. I’m glad to report that his passing was painless and quick. That man was one of my giants, a very long-time friend of some 50 years or so. He was a delight, a very bright spot in my firmament, one to whom I could always turn to with a question or an idea, with any strange notion I could invent, and with any complaint or comment I could come up with.
…He was such a good man, a productive and useful member of our society, and I can anticipate the international reaction to his passing. His books – so many of them – remain to remind us of his contributions to us all. His last one was dedicated to me, and I am just so proud of that fact, so very proud…
It will take a while, but Martin would want me to get on with my life, so I will.
It’s tough…
Phil Plait has also written about Gardner’s passing, and Scientific American has reposted their 2005 profile of him as a tribute. For a video profile of the man, see the following 1996 documentary hosted by David Suzuki:
About the only people that might not be as glowing in their summation of Gardner’s life are those involved in off-beat science and the paranormal – subject areas against which Gardner wrote numerous polemics, befitting his role as a founder of CSICOP (now CSI). My own investigation of Gardner’s ‘skepticism’ has revealed a man who was certainly not immune to writing biased, erroneous, and misleading tracts – coincidentally, I was only weeks away from publishing a critique of his ‘debunking’ of the mediumship of Leonora Piper (which I’ll withhold for a while as a mark of respect). But all of us certainly have our moments of error; and on balance, one must say that Gardner inspired and helped a large number of people, and the growth of knowledge, in a good way over his long life.
Martin Gardner was 95 years old.
