From Wandering Jew to William F Buckley Jr

Book excerpt: Over his several decades of writing, Gardner has accomplished so much it's hard to believe there's just one of him. ... - Publishers WeeklyFor over fifty years Martin Gardner has been writing witty, entertaining, and highly intelligent articles on an amazing range of topics. Best known for his works on popular science and mathematics, and as an incisive skeptical commentator on the paranormal, Gardner is also an accomplished writer of children's literature, a novelist, and essayist on religion and philosophy. This collection of essays and book reviews takes its name from the bookend articles, The Wandering Jew and the Second Coming and The Faith of William Buckley, which in themselves demonstrate the extent of Gardner's interests.Besides the legend of the Wandering Jew, its relation to the Second Coming, and Bill Buckley's religious convictions, Gardner also takes on the subjects of astrology, psychic surgery, word play in the stories of L. Frank Baum (author of The Wizard of Oz), and the history of a forgotten children's magazine. In addition, there are reviews of books by astronomer Carl Sagan, philosopher Paul Edwards, and science fiction writer H. G. Wells, along with commentary on mathematics, Lewis Carroll, chess, Christian Science, science fads, and more.Longtime Gardner fans and intellectually curious newcomers will welcome this entertaining and literate collection by one of America's most brilliant essayists.Martin Gardner, the creator of Scientific American's Mathematical Games column, which he wrote for more than twenty-five years, is the author of almost one hundred books, including The Annotated Ancient Mariner, Martin Gardner's Favorite Poetic Parodies, From the Wandering Jew to William F. Buckley Jr., and Science: Good, Bad and Bogus. For many years he was also a contributing editor to the Skeptical Inquirer.