ABSTRACT
Recreational mathematics is generally presented-and is always pursued
—for recreational purposes. Just as the name suggests. But is it really
possible to draw a line between mathematics pursued for fun and mathe-
matics pursued with applications in mind? Could a piece of recreational
mathematics lead to important applications? To take the most extreme
case, could recreational math save the world? Could Martin Gardner,
the undisputed king of recreational mathematicians, lay claim to have
played a role in saving humanity?
