Silly Little Country

I Should Have Mentioned Martin Gardner

...when he died a couple of weeks ago.
Perhaps more than anyone he influenced me through his Scientific American column and through his books to become passionate about mathematics, which formed my first career. I loved his love for math and I loved his skepticism. He taught me so many good instincts.
This lovely obit starts out exactly right, in my view.

If you meet any mathematicians this week, please be extra nice to them as they're going to be a little bit teary. On Saturday night, Martin Gardner died.
There are very few mathematicians who wouldn't cite Gardner as an influence while they were growing up. He certainly lived a long and rewarding life. In fact he was so old his age was the largest number with only two factors, where the two numbers below it also have only two factors each.

He made my life so much richer and I am so pleased to have shared the planet with him for so many years.

posted by Alan Adamson @ 1:34 PM