WWMD?

Abstract

For many of us, the late Martin Gardner is like a god, whose powers of mathematical exposition are nonpareil, and whose second coming we all eagerly await. His columns for Scientific American, and the books they begat, framed the public awareness of mathematics for decades, and they will be enjoyed for centuries to come. I will preach here the humble sermon that there is always much to be learned about presenting mathematics to the laity by pondering carefully the words of Gardner, who strung them together so magisterially. Faced with the dilemma of explaining complex ideas to an often bewildered audience, mathematicians will do well to keep in mind the introspective question, What Would Martin Do?