The Jinn From Hyperspace and Other Scribblings—Both Serious and Whimsical

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THE JINN FROM HYPERSPACE and Other Scribblings--Both Serious and Whimsical. Martin Gardner. Prometheus Books, Amherst, New York, 2007. 270 pp. Hardcover, $25.95. The irrepressible polymath Martin Gardner comes up with another lively compilation of recent essays and reviews. It's the most recent of a series of delightful, witty, informative books Gardner has been publishing for over fifty years now.

This one's divided into four sections: Science, Math, and Baloney; Literature; L Frank Baum; and Lewis Carroll. The title essay is about a jinn (genie) trapped in a "Klein Bottle," a theoretical one-sided object. The lead two chapters consist of Gardner's two articles on the False Memory Wars which were published by the SKEPTICAL INQUIRER in 2006; another is his SI article "Energy from the Vacuum?" (January/February 2007). He also writes on such topics as time-reversed worlds, transcendental numbers, a defense of Platonic realism, "Professor Cracker's Antitelephone," and Blabbages's decision paradox. He asks, "Is Beauty Truth?" "Is String Theory in Trouble?" and "Do Loops Explain Consciousness?" (the last, a review of Douglass Hofstadter's new book). On the literary side, he discusses two neglected works by G.K. Chesterton, one concerning an imaginary but now very topical war between Islam and Christianity. He also considers the fantasies of L. Frank Baum that don't take place in Oz and books by Lewis Carroll that have been overshadowed by his famous Alice in Wonderland. Each chapter has a lively new introduction by Gardner. A typical potpourri of Gardnerian intellectual delight.

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