J. Malcolm (James Malcolm) Bird

Born in Brooklyn, New York, on September 2, 1886, James Malcolm Bird studied at Columbia University and did graduate work in mathematics. Early in his career he taught mathematics and worked in publishing and journalism, becoming associated with Scientific American.

Bird is remembered by many readers for Einstein's Theories of Relativity and Gravitation, a popular introduction that helped explain difficult scientific ideas to a wider audience. Later, he became deeply involved in psychical research and served as research officer for the American Society for Psychical Research during the 1920s and early 1930s.

That later work made him a notable and sometimes disputed figure in debates over spiritualism and paranormal claims. He died on October 30, 1964, leaving behind a career that connected mathematics, magazine writing, and one of the strangest corners of twentieth-century intellectual life.