Is it possible for a nonmathematician to write both accurately and entertainingly about a mathematical topic while still conveying something nontrivial about the mathematics? The answer is yes, but good examples are rare. Constance Reid did the trick with her book about Hilbert, and, to a lesser extent, with her book about Courant, but she had the advantage of having Julia Robinson for a sister. And of course Martin Gardner, who had little formal mathematical training, wrote the “Mathematical Games ” column of Scientific American for many years, and introduced the beauty of mathematics to many young readers, including this reviewer.

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