Over a period of 24 years (January 1957 – December 1980), Martin Gardner wrote 288 consecutive monthly "Mathematical Games" columns for Scientific American magazine. During the next 5.5 years, until June 1986, Gardner wrote 9 more columns, bringing his total to 297. During this period other authors wrote most of the columns. In 1981, Gardner's column alternated with a new column by Douglas Hofstadter called "Metamagical Themas" (an anagram of "Mathematical Games").""Stories by Douglas R. Hofstadter". Scientific American. The table below lists Gardner's columns.
Twelve of Gardner's columns provided the cover art for that month's magazine, indicated by "[cover]" in the table with a hyperlink to the cover.A Gardner's Dozen—Martin's Scientific American Cover Stories.