MARC Record from Library of Congress

LEADER: 02756cam a2200289 a 4500
001 2009010286
003 DLC
005 20100218143223.0
008 090326s2009 nyua b 001 0 eng
010 $a 2009010286
020 $a9780809087372 (hardcover : alk. paper) :$c$26.00
020 $a0809087375 (hardcover : alk. paper)
035 $a(OCoLC)ocn317623052
040 $aDLC$cDLC$dBTCTA$dC#P$dABG$dMOF$dVP@$dBUR$dDLC
050 00 $aQ173$b.G355 2009
082 00 $a500$222
100 1 $aGardner, Martin,$d1914-
245 10 $aWhen you were a tadpole and I was a fish :$band other speculations about this and that /$cMartin Gardner.
250 $a1st ed.
260 $aNew York :$bHill and Wang,$c2009.
300 $aviii, 246 p. :$bill. ;$c24 cm.
504 $aIncludes bibliographical references (p. [227]-233) and index.
520 $aBest known as the longtime writer of the Mathematical Games column for Scientific American, Martin Gardner has for decades pursued a parallel career as a devastatingly effective debunker of what he once famously dubbed "fads and fallacies in the name of science." This collection of choice essays takes aim at a gallery of amusing targets, ranging from Ann Coulter's qualifications as an evolutionary biologist to the logical fallacies of precognition and extrasensory perception, from Santa Claus to The Wizard of Oz, from mutilated chessboards to the little-known "one-poem poet" Langdon Smith (the original author of this volume's title line). The writings assembled here fall into seven broad categories: Science, Bogus Science, Mathematics, Logic, Literature, Religion and Philosophy, and Politics. Under each heading, Gardner displays an awesome level of erudition combined with a wicked sense of humor.--From publisher description.
505 0 $aScience. Ann Coulter takes on Darwin ; Isaac Newton's vast ocean of truth ; Bull's-eyes and famous fumbles ; Mr. Belloc objects ; Mr. Belloc still objects -- Bogus science. Why I am not a paranormalist ; New thought, unity, and Ella Wheeler Wilcox ; Was the sinking of the Titanic foretold? -- Mathematics. Dracula makes a martini ; The Fibonacci sequence ; L-tromino tiling of mutilated chessboards ; Is Ruben Hersch "out there"? -- Logic. The explosion of Blaggage's oracle ; The erasing of Philbert the Fudger -- Literature. The wonderful Wizard of Oz ; The life and adventures of Santa Claus ; Tales of the long bow ; When you were a tadpole and I was a fish -- Religion. The curious case of Frank Tipler ; The comic pratfall of Richard Roberts ; Why I am not an atheist ; The coloured lands ; The price we pay -- Politics. Is socialism a dirty word?
650 0 $aScience$vMiscellanea.
650 0 $aMathematics$vMiscellanea.
650 0 $aQuestions and answers.