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Gathering for Martin Gardner
Martin Gardner (1914–2010) had a profound influence on my life. I have read and enjoyed his work, yet most of his influence was second hand. Many of those who taught me the wonder and beauty of mathematics—my father chief among them—were inspired by Martin's works, especially his column "Mathematical Games" in Scientific American. And the Gathering for Gardner, a bi-annual event in his honor, has kept me amazed and enthralled with the incredible things that us humans are doing and have done, since I first attended when I was 17. Though I am sad about his death, even more than that I am happy in celebration of his long and full life; that he could have such a huge indirect influence on me shows that his legacy will continue, and I am glad to be a part of it.
To get a sense of the kind of wonderful things he's inspired, check out reports from this year's Gathering for Gardner, such as this article by Bob Crease in The Wall Street Journal, or more recently, this one by Alex Bellos in The New Scientist. The building of the balloon snub dodecahedron mentioned in that article is shown at right, and the print version of contains a rather large picture of myself holding a balloon octahedron in front of my face.
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