author
J. Malcolm (James Malcolm) Bird
1886–1964
Best known for moving between science writing, stage magic, and psychical research, this unusual early-20th-century figure edited books on Einstein and became a visible voice in debates over spiritualism. His career took him from mathematics teaching to Scientific American and the American Society for Psychical Research.
1 Audiobook
About the author
James Malcolm Bird was born in Brooklyn, New York, on September 2, 1886, and died on October 30, 1964. He trained in mathematics and taught at Columbia University before shifting into magazine work and public writing.
Bird became an associate editor at Scientific American in the 1920s. He is also remembered for compiling and editing Einstein's Theories of Relativity and Gravitation in 1922, a book that helped introduce complex scientific ideas to a wider audience.
Later, he was closely involved with psychical research and served as research officer for the American Society for Psychical Research from 1925 to 1931. Alongside that serious side of his career, he also wrote practical and entertaining books on conjuring and puzzles, which gives his work an especially wide-ranging, curious feel.