James Randi died on October 20th

AS A BOY he invented a pop-up toaster. He blew a hole in the floor of the breakfast room while conducting a chemistry experiment in the family basement in northern Toronto. And when, at Sunday school, he queried whether what the Bible claimed was actually true, he was promptly sent home. His parents never knew what he might do next. When they took him to Toronto General Hospital for psychological testing, all they learned was that he was terrifically bright—his IQ was 168, higher than Albert Einstein’s is thought to have been. At least his high school had the right idea. They let him bunk off class and teach himself, coming in only to do his exams.