{"product_id":"when-you-were-a-tadpole-and-i-was-a-fish-and-other-speculations-about-this-and-that-9780374532413","title":"When You Were a Tadpole and I Was a Fish: And Other Speculations about This and That","description":"\u003cp\u003eBest known as the longtime writer of the Mathematical Games column for \u003ci\u003eScientific American\u003c\/i\u003e--which introduced generations of readers to the joys of recreational mathematics--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.\" It is mainly in this latter role that he is onstage in this collection of choice essays. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eWhen You Were a Tadpole and I Was a Fish\u003c\/i\u003e 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 \u003ci\u003eThe Wizard of Oz\u003c\/i\u003e, 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 naturally 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eMartin Gardner\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of more than seventy books, as well as countless magazine articles and other shorter works. He lives in Norman, Oklahoma.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Farrar, Strauss \u0026 Giroux-3pl","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50844400353554,"sku":"9780374532413","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_c6ab52d6-cccf-4fb8-b2db-0235dbdedcc0.jpg?v=1737318888","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/when-you-were-a-tadpole-and-i-was-a-fish-and-other-speculations-about-this-and-that-9780374532413","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}