I really liked this article. Why? Well, all the nerds out there know that math is fun, but the average person doesn't. To the average person math is a daunting, obscure, incomprehensible subject. It's very sad that some of these people go through their whole lives without having been exposed to its underlying beauty.

I particularly liked how the author gave an example of a person who's life (or career) revolved around mathematics, and yet, he was no mathematician by definition. It's by breaking stereotypes and misconceptions that a subject's beauty and elegance shines through and renders people disillusioned no more.

"The algebra and geometry were sugar-coated with elaborate stories and wonderful illustrations of giraffe races, pool-hall squabbles, burglaries and scheming carnival barkers," says Mr. Gardner of the books his father gave him. This is the kind of math that we should be promoting, or at least, showing kids what it could be, and on some inherent level, actually is. It's no mere textbook filler.

I also liked how the author included Mr. Gardner's philosophical views on mathematics, why it appealed to him, and when he got those emotional 'oomph's' out of a puzzle. Sometimes being exposed to one person's passion for a subject propels us into it as well.