I’ve always thought of Martin Gardner as the guy with the logic and math puzzles and related essays over my head. Then I opened When You Were a Tadpole and I Was a Fish. I really had no idea how much more widely he had written.

This is a wide-ranging collection of articles, reviews, essays, and introductions to the works of others. Much of it is based in debunking or at least viewing things with a large grain of salt. But doing so coolly, logically, and quite entertainingly, not all bombastic rants, as too often happens. That really shows with the opening essay that considers Ann Coulter’s "new role as a science writer" as she takes on Darwin in her book Godless. It’s beautifully done, calmly identifying and picking apart some major holes in her case rather than providing the sort of emotional, partisan rant she revels in eliciting. The final sentence provides a big, thoughtful grin of a kicker.

The title essay applies T. S. Elliot’s distinction between poetry and verse (e.g. he didn't believe Kipling wrote poetry, but he he did think Kipling versified magnificently, with a strong beat driving clear concepts) to a poem combining evolution and reincarnation in a love story. In Gardner’s opinion, "Evolution" is not good poetry but it is an example of great verse, telling an epic tale with a "strong, singsong rhythm" to illustrate what Darwin himself said: "There is a grandeur in this view of life."

The final essay is as up to the minute as the evening news, considering a word that gets tossed out like a verbal hand grenade—socialism. It’s fascinating, again not getting caught up in a lot of emotion-based ranting to make a point, but looking logically at the inherent problems in how fuzzy a term socialism is in the first place, how fuzzy most people are about understanding it, and how much more fuzzy we are about how we apply it to things.

In between is a rich harvest, ranging from the sorts of math puzzles Gardner is known for, to his introduction to the Dover edition of The Wizard of Oz, a history of Santa Claus (which also touches on Oz), and Gardner analyzing claims that the sinking of the Titanic was foretold. Interesting, enjoyable reading that will treat your brain to just a little light exercise. Highly recommended.