{"title":"Martin Gardner","description":"\u003cp\u003eMartin Gardner’s works invite readers into the fascinating worlds of mathematics, science, and puzzles with a unique blend of clarity and wit. His books, such as \u003cem\u003eCalculus Made Easy\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThe Colossal Book of Mathematics\u003c\/em\u003e, unravel complex concepts in an engaging and accessible manner, perfect for both curious novices and seasoned enthusiasts.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBeyond rigorous logic, Gardner’s writing sparkles with humour and playful insight, evident in collections like \u003cem\u003eThe Colossal Book of Short Puzzles and Problems\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eAre Universes Thicker Than Blackberries?\u003c\/em\u003e. This combination of intellect and lightheartedness makes his work enduringly captivating for readers interested in the interplay between science, math, and entertainment.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"are-universes-thicker-than-blackberries-by-martin-gardner-9780393325720","title":"Are Universes Thicker Than Blackberries?","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn this new book, Gardner explores startling scientific concepts, such as the possibility of multiple universes and the theory that time can go backwards. Armed with his expert, sceptical eye, he examines the bizarre tangents produced by Freudians and deconstructionists in their critiques of \u003cem\u003eLittle Red Riding Hood\u003c\/em\u003e, and reveals the fallacies of pseudoscientific cures, from Dr. Bruno Bettelheim’s erroneous theory of autism to the cruel farces of Facilitated Communication and Primal Scream Therapy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46853982453996,"sku":"9780393325720","price":28.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/338083482328.jpg?v=1759229633"},{"product_id":"the-colossal-book-of-mathematics-by-martin-gardner-9780393020236","title":"The Colossal Book of Mathematics","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhether discussing hexaflexagons or number theory, Klein bottles or the essence of \"nothing,\" Martin Gardner has single-handedly created the field of \"recreational mathematics.\" \u003ci\u003eThe Colossal Book of Mathematics\u003c\/i\u003e collects Gardner's most popular pieces from his legendary \"Mathematical Games\" column, which ran in Scientific American for twenty-five years. Gardner's array of absorbing puzzles and mind-twisting paradoxes opens mathematics up to the world at large, inspiring people to see past numbers and formulas and experience the application of mathematical principles to the mysterious world around them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWith articles on topics ranging from simple algebra to the twisting surfaces of Mobius strips, from an endless game of Bulgarian solitaire to the unreachable dream of time travel, this volume comprises a substantial and definitive monument to Gardner's influence on mathematics, science, and culture.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn its twelve sections, \u003ci\u003eThe Colossal Book of Mathematics\u003c\/i\u003e explores a wide range of areas, each startlingly illuminated by Gardner's incisive expertise. Beginning with seemingly simple topics, Gardner expertly guides us through complicated and wondrous worlds: by way of basic algebra, we contemplate the mesmerizing, often hilarious linguistic and numerical possibilities of palindromes; using simple geometry, he dissects the principles of symmetry upon which the renowned mathematical artist M. C. Escher constructs his unique, dizzying universe.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eGardner, like few thinkers today, melds a rigorous scientific skepticism with a profound artistic and imaginative impulse. His stunning exploration of \"The Church of the Fourth Dimension,\" for example, bridges the disparate worlds of religion and science by brilliantly imagining the spatial possibility of God's presence in the world as a fourth dimension, at once \"everywhere and nowhere.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWith boundless wisdom and his trademark wit, Gardner allows the reader to further engage with challenging topics like probability and game theory, which have plagued clever gamblers and famous mathematicians for centuries. Whether debunking Pascal's wager with basic probability, making visual music with fractals, or uncoiling a \"knotted doughnut\" with introductory topology, Gardner continuously displays his fierce intelligence and gentle humour.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHis articles confront both the comfortingly mundane—\"Generalized Ticktacktoe\" and \"Sprouts and Brussel Sprouts\"—and the quakingly abstract—\"Hexaflexagons,\" \"Nothing,\" and \"Everything.\" He navigates these staggeringly obscure topics with a deft intelligence and, with addendums and suggested reading lists, he informs these classic articles with new insight.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAdmired by scientists and mathematicians, writers and readers alike, Gardner's vast knowledge and burning curiosity reveal themselves on every page. The culmination of a lifelong devotion to the wonders of mathematics, \u003ci\u003eThe Colossal Book of Mathematics\u003c\/i\u003e is the largest and most comprehensive math book ever assembled by Gardner and remains an indispensable volume for the amateur and expert alike.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47072372850924,"sku":"9780393020236","price":75.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9780393020236.jpg?v=1765099029"},{"product_id":"calculus-made-easy-by-silvanus-phillips-thompson-9780312185480","title":"Calculus Made Easy","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eCalculus Made Easy\u003c\/em\u003e by Silvanus P. Thompson and Martin Gardner has long been the most popular calculus primer.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis major revision of the classic math text makes the subject at hand still more comprehensible to readers of all levels.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWith a new introduction, three new chapters, modernised language and methods throughout, and an appendix of challenging and enjoyable practice problems, \u003cem\u003eCalculus Made Easy\u003c\/em\u003e has been thoroughly updated for the modern reader.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Macmillan Publishers New Zealand Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47401888612588,"sku":"9780312185480","price":71.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/ede54591140887c153ced0fbea5b1d50.jpg?v=1773803507"},{"product_id":"the-colossal-book-of-short-puzzles-and-problems-by-martin-gardner-9780393061147","title":"The Colossal Book of Short Puzzles and Problems","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor more than twenty-five years, Martin Gardner was \u003cem\u003eScientific American\u003c\/em\u003e's renowned provocateur of popular math. His yearly gatherings of short and inventive problems were easily his most anticipated math columns. Loyal readers would savour the wit and elegance of his explorations in physics, probability, topology, and chess, among others.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eGrouped by subject and arrayed from easiest to hardest, the puzzles gathered here, which complement the lengthier, more involved problems in \u003cem\u003eThe Colossal Book of Mathematics\u003c\/em\u003e, have been selected by Gardner for their illuminating—and often bewildering—solutions.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFilled 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47599308669164,"sku":"9780393061147","price":75.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9780393061147-the-colossal-book-of-short-puzzles-and-problems.jpg?v=1777975081"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.co.nz\/collections\/martin-gardner.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}