[seqfan] Re: Martin Gardner & humour MIORE!

[gould at math.wvu.edu]

Some years ago Martin Gardner ran an April fool story in his Scientific
American column giving a "counterexample" to the four color conjecture.
The map he presented  certainly seemed to show a map that required five
colors.
but it  required only a few minutes to trace around and show that the
fifth color was  redundant.
HOWEVER a reviewer for the German Zentralblatt für Mathematik totally
misunderstood the gag and wrote a serious review saying that the article
indeed showed a 4CC counterexample!
I got a big bang from the joke!

Henry Gould
P.S.: I knew Martin for a long time and I really admired his work and
personality.
By the way Martin was an avid Sherlock Holmes enthusiast.
I tried to get him to visit here in West Virginia and speak to our Math.
Dept. and our local Sherlock Holmes Baker Street Irregulars :"Scion of
Four", but he was too busy to visit.
He cited my extensive bibliographies on Catalan and Bell numbers in two
separate articles he wrote.  Martin as Dr. Matrix will never be forgotten.

= = = = = = =

> Not sure if this helps, but here goes...
>
> The recent Car Talk podcast includes a phone call recorded several
> years with a listener who called into the show to object to an
> incorrect report at the time that Martin Gardner had died. The caller
> said on the air that he had called his dad who confirmed that Martin
> Gardner was still alive. What made your dad so sure of that? asked the
> radio host. Because my dad is Martin Gardner! the caller said.
>
> --Graeme McRae,
> Palmdale, CA
>
> On Jun 7, 2010, at 7:09 AM, "Eric Angelini" <Eric.Angelini at kntv.be>
> wrote:
>
>>
>> Hello Math-Fun and SeqFan,
>> I'm asked to write a 10,000-sign paper on Martin Gardner's
>> sense of humour (the man &/or his articles, columns, books).
>> Do some of you have nice stories or souvenirs?
>> Best,
>> É.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>>
>> Seqfan Mailing list - http://list.seqfan.eu/
>
>
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