The last level of metaphor in the Alice books is this: that life, viewed rationally and without illusion, appears to be a nonsense tale told by an idiot mathematician. — Martin Gardner Copy Share Image
If you ask me to tell you anything about the nature of what lies beyond the phaneron… my answer is “How should I know?”…… — Martin Gardner Copy Share Image
Debunking bad science should be constant obligation of the science community, even if it takes time away from serious research or seems to be… — Martin Gardner Copy Share Image
Mathematics is not only real, but it is the only reality. That is that entire universe is made of matter, obviously. And matter is made of particles. It's made of electrons and neutrons and protons. So the entire universe is made out of particles. Now what are the particles made out of They're not made out of anything. The only… — Martin Gardner Copy Share
There is still a difference between something and nothing, but it is purely geometrical and there is nothing behind the geometry. — Martin Gardner Copy Share Image
Let the Bible be the Bible. It's not about science. It's not accurate history. It is a grab bag of religious fantasies written by… — Martin Gardner Copy Share Image
It is part of the pholosophic dullness of our time that there are millions of rational monsters walking about on their hind legs, observing… — Martin Gardner Copy Share Image
Politicians, real-estate agents, used-car salesmen, and advertising copy-writers are expected to stretch facts in self-serving directions, but scientists who falsify their results are regarded by their peers as committing an inexcusable crime. Yet the sad fact is that the history of science swarms with cases of outright fakery and instances of scientists who unconsciously distorted their work by seeing it… — Martin Gardner Copy Share
“Her constant orders for beheading are shocking to those modern critics of children's literature who feel that juvenile fiction should be free of all violence and especially violence with Freudian undertones. Even the Oz books of L. Frank Baum, so singularly free of the horrors to be found in Grimm and Andersen, contain many scenes of decapitation. As far as… — Martin Gardner Copy Share
The violence and double-talk in the Alice books probably does no harm to children, but the novels should not be allowed to circulate indiscriminately… — Martin Gardner Copy Share Image
As Bertrand Russell once wrote, two plus two is four even in the interior of the sun. — Martin Gardner Copy Share Image
Mathemagical mathematics combines the beauty of mathematical structure with the entertainment value of a trick. — Martin Gardner Copy Share Image
