Undiluted Hocus-Pocus: The Autobiography of Martin Gardner

Name: Undiluted Hocus-Pocus: The Autobiography of Martin Gardner
Price: 13.99 USD
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4.1 (53 reviews)
Author: Martin Gardner

by Martin Gardner

Nonfiction Memoir

4.1 (53)

4.1 stars from 53 reviews

264 pages~4.4 hr readPublished by Princeton University PressPublished 2015-11-03

$13.9922% off peak

Last checked: May 10, 2026

Price history: $2.99 – $17.99

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Price range: $2.99 – $17.99

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Perfect for you if...

You're fascinated by how a curious mind develops and the path that leads someone to become a public intellectual and truth-teller.
You enjoy reading about the intersection of mathematics, magic, philosophy, and science from someone who understood all of them deeply.
You appreciate memoir writing that balances humour and conviction without pretension, especially from someone with strong opinions about what matters.

Maybe not for you if...

You're looking for a narrative-driven life story with dramatic plot turns. This is reflective and idea-focused rather than plot-focused.
You want to understand Gardner's mathematical contributions in technical detail. This is memoir, not a maths textbook.
You prefer authors who sit on the fence about controversial topics. Gardner is uncompromising and direct about pseudoscience and his beliefs.

About this book

Martin Gardner wrote the Mathematical Games column for Scientific American for twenty-five years and published more than seventy books covering topics including magic, religion, and Alice in Wonderland. This posthumous autobiography presents Gardner's candid self-portrait, tracing his life from childhood in Oklahoma through his varied professional pursuits. Gardner shares anecdotes about people he met and mentored, and expresses his views on mathematics, pseudoscience, and rationality. He was called by evolutionary theorist Stephen Jay Gould our "single brightest beacon" for defending rationality and good science against mysticism and anti-intellectualism. For Gardner, the mathematically structured universe represents a marvelous enigma. Undiluted Hocus-Pocus offers an intimate look at Gardner's life, work, and the experiences that shaped both, covering his interests in math, magic, philosophy, science, religion, and politics alongside his intellectual development.

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$2.99 – $17.99

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Currently around #78K in the Kindle store — a steady mid-list seller. Climbing the charts — 37% improvement recently.

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Currently 4.1★ from 53 reviews

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This book goes on sale roughly every 65 days. Next drop estimated in about 6 weeks. Typical discount: 83% off.

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