Thomas Malin Rodgers (August 1, 1943 — April 12, 2012) was an Atlanta-based businessman and puzzle collector who is remembered as the originator of the
Gathering 4 Gardner (G4G) educational foundation, first conceived in 1992.
[ He co-founded G4G with magician and toy inventor Mark Setteducati and UC Berkeley professor ]Elwyn Berlekamp
Elwyn Ralph Berlekamp (September 6, 1940 – April 9, 2019) was a professor of mathematics and computer science at the University of California, Berkeley.Contributors, ''IEEE Transactions on Information Theory'' 42, #3 (May 1996), p. 1048. DO10. ...
.[Puzzles + Math = Magic]
By Edward Rothstein, New York Times, April 3, 2004 Over the past three decades it hosted 14 biennial conferences for aficionados of the recreational mathematician and Scientific American
''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many famous scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it. In print since 1845, it ...
columnist and writer Martin Gardner
Martin Gardner (October 21, 1914May 22, 2010) was an American popular mathematics and popular science writer with interests also encompassing scientific skepticism, micromagic, philosophy, religion, and literatureespecially the writings of Lew ...
.[''Barrycades and Septoku: Papers in Honor of Martin Gardner and Tom Rodgers'', edited by Thane Plambeck & Tomas Rokicki, American Mathematical Society, May 2020, p.xii ] Rodgers also edited 6 volumes of Martin Gardner tribute books, published by AK Peters. Rodgers' personal physical puzzle collection was legendary.[The science of fun]
By Alex Bellos, The Guardian, 30 May 2008
Gathering 4 Gardner
Through his monthly Mathematical Games column and his extensive correspondence, Gardner had created a large network of fans and had achieved an almost cult-like status.[Magic numbers: A meeting of mathemagical tricksters]
By Alex Bellos, New Scientist, 24 May 2010[ Rodgers knew many of the other people in the ever expanding Gardner circle and a decade after Gardner stopped writing his column, Rodgers decided that a conference in his honor was merited. He managed to convince the usually shy Gardner to attend and then used Gardner's own voluminous and meticulous files to assemble a list of invitees. They called it The Gathering 4 Gardner, which was subsequently shortened to G4G. Gardner attended the first G4G in 1993 and the second, dubbed G4G2, in 1996.][A gathering for Gardner]
by Robert P. Crease, Physics World
''Physics World'' is the membership magazine of the Institute of Physics, one of the largest physical societies in the world. It is an international monthly magazine covering all areas of physics, pure and applied, and is aimed at physicists in ...
, 01 Jul 2008 Since then, there has been a gathering every two years up to G4G13 in 2018, and then G4G14 in 2022, delayed because of the Covid pandemic. For the first two decades G4G was sustained mostly by Rodgers with "seemingly unfettered access to his personal time and resources."[
By the time of G4G7 in 2006 the conference was attracting a wide assortment of people including Mathematician Daina Taimina, gaming hobbyist ]Lou Zocchi
Louis Zocchi is a gaming hobbyist, former game distributor and publisher, and maker and seller of polyhedral game dice. In 1986, he was elected to the Charles Roberts Awards Hall of Fame.
Career
Lou Zocchi was one of the first editors for Av ...
, puzzle designer Wei-Hwa Huang
Wei-Hwa Huang (born 1975 in Eugene, Oregon) is an American puzzler, member of the US Team for the World Puzzle Championship, and game designer.
Huang was a member of the United States International Math Olympiad team in 1992 and 1993, where he wa ...
, magic square expert Lee Sallows, puzzle historian David Singmaster
David Breyer Singmaster (born 1938) is an emeritus professor of mathematics at London South Bank University, England. A self-described metagrobologist, he has a huge personal collection of mechanical puzzles and books of brain teasers. He is mo ...
, computer scientist and origamist Ron Resch
Ron Resch (Ronald Dale Resch) was an artist, computer scientist, and applied geometrist, known for his work involving folding paper, origami tessellations and 3D polyhedrons.
Resch studied art at the University of Iowa receiving his Master o ...
, and spidron ''This article discusses the geometric figure; for the science-fiction character see Spidron (character).''
In geometry, a spidron is a continuous plane geometry, flat geometric figure composed entirely of triangles, where, for every pair of joinin ...
inventor Dániel Erdély—in addition to establishment mathematicians John H. Conway and Roger Penrose.[ Rogers himself was involved in each gathering up to 2012. But he was mortally ill, and G4G10 was to be his last gathering.][ As tradition demanded, for one day he hosted the attendees at his lavish home and Japanese gardens in north Atlanta, which was filled with his huge puzzle collection.][ He died just nine days later.][
Subsequent G4Gs have attracted an ever increasing array of recreational mathematicians, magicians, puzzle designers, pseudoscience skeptics, jugglers, artists, game designers, origamists, toy inventors, computer scientists, philosophers, and cognitive psychologists.]["A Gathering for Gardner", By Ivars Peterson, Science News, March 23, 2006]
Legacy
Part of Martin Gardner's genius was that he attracted a circle of collaborators whose synergy dramatically deepened the knowledge of the subjects that Gardner was writing about. Rodgers, like his mentor, carried on this tradition by founding the gathering. Neil Calkin of Clemson University
Clemson University () is a public land-grant research university in Clemson, South Carolina. Founded in 1889, Clemson is the second-largest university in the student population in South Carolina. For the fall 2019 semester, the university enr ...
in a tribute to Rodgers says:[Tom Rodgers, Organizer of Gathering for Gardner and Celebration of Mind, Dies at 67]
Mathematical Association of America, April 20, 2012
:Tom's contribution to the life of the mind has been that of a catalyst: to bring together hundreds of incredible people, to give them a forum to meet, to communicate, and to interact with amazing individuals from different disciplines, to form connections, and to inspire. In 2010, I described one day at the G4G9 as the best day I've had in my life so far.
Books
Rodgers frequently collaborated with other members of the Gardner circle to edit tribute books about him.
Tribute to a Mathemagician
' edited by Barry Cipra, Erik D. Demaine, Martin L. Demaine and Tom Rodgers, A K Peters/CRC Press (2004),
* 1999 – ''The Mathemagician and Pied Puzzler: A Collection in Tribute to Martin Gardner'', edited by Elwyn Berlekamp
Elwyn Ralph Berlekamp (September 6, 1940 – April 9, 2019) was a professor of mathematics and computer science at the University of California, Berkeley.Contributors, ''IEEE Transactions on Information Theory'' 42, #3 (May 1996), p. 1048. DO10. ...
& Tom Rodgers (AK Peters),
* 2001 – ''Puzzlers' Tribute: A Feast for the Mind'', edited by David Wolfe & Tom Rodgers (AK Peters),
* 2004 – ''Tribute to a Mathemagician'', edited by Barry Cipra, Erik Demaine
Erik D. Demaine (born February 28, 1981) is a professor of computer science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a former child prodigy.
Early life and education
Demaine was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, to artist sculptor Marti ...
, Martin Demaine
Martin L. (Marty) Demaine (born 1942) is an artist and mathematician, the Angelika and Barton Weller artist in residence at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Demaine attended Medford High School in Medford, Massachusetts. After st ...
& Tom Rodgers (AK Peters),
* 2008 – ''A Lifetime of Puzzles: A Collection of Puzzles in Honor of Martin Gardner's 90th Birthday'', edited by Erik Demaine, Martin Demaine & Tom Rodgers (AK Peters),
* 2009 – ''Homage to a Pied Puzzler'', edited by Ed Pegg Jr.
Edward Taylor Pegg Jr. (born December 7, 1963) is an expert on mathematical puzzles and is a self-described recreational mathematician. He wrote an online puzzle column called Ed Pegg Jr.'s ''Math Games'' for the Mathematical Association of Amer ...
, Alan Schoen
Alan Hugh Schoen (born December 11, 1924) is an American physicist and computer scientist best known for his discovery of the gyroid, an infinitely connected triply periodic minimal surface.
Professional career
Alan Schoen received his B.S. degre ...
& Tom Rodgers (AK Peters),
* 2009 – ''Mathematical Wizardry for a Gardner'', edited by Ed Pegg Jr., Alan Schoen & Tom Rodgers (AK Peters),
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodgers, Tom
1943 births
2012 deaths
Recreational mathematicians
Puzzle designers
Mathematics popularizers