Magical Mathematics: The Mathematical Ideas That Animate Great Magic Tricks by Persi Diaconis (PDF)

Description

The mathematics behind some of the world’s most amazing card tricksMagical Mathematics reveals the secrets of fun-to-perform card tricks—and the profound mathematical ideas behind them—that will astound even the most accomplished magician. Persi Diaconis and Ron Graham provide easy, step-by-step instructions for each trick, explaining how to set up the effect and offering tips on what to say and do while performing it. Each card trick introduces a new mathematical idea, and varying the tricks in turn takes readers to the very threshold of today’s mathematical knowledge.Diaconis and Graham tell the stories—and reveal the best tricks—of the eccentric and brilliant inventors of mathematical magic. The book exposes old gambling secrets through the mathematics of shuffling cards, explains the classic street-gambling scam of three-card Monte, traces the history of mathematical magic back to the oldest mathematical trick—and much more.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐Some of the customer reviews are down on this book because it is not what they want the book to be. I recommend enjoying the book for what it is; and there is enough variety for some parts of the book to appeal to everyone. As the famous magician Ricky Jay says in his back cover blurb, it is, “A remarkably appealing concoction of conjuring, invention, education, science, homage, and memoir.” It is easy to skip the math that is too complicated (and it’s really not that large a part of the book), and some of the math is just arithmetic and basic calculation of odds. I’ll never try to perform a magic trick or study heavy math, but I do like puzzles and games; and this book is plenty interesting enough in the puzzles-and-games dimension. And, personally, I like the book’s memoir (both of the authors have had fascinating lives) and homage (the author’s describe a nice, if not comprehensive, selection of interesting people they venerate). Since the book arrived from Amazon a few days ago, I have thumbed through the entire book and read many parts in detail. I expect I will continue to dip into the book over the coming weeks concentrating on understanding the not-really-difficult-but-complicated parts a bit at a time. I am also looking at some videos on the net that demonstrate some of the tricks discussed in this book. I definitely will mention this book to anyone who asks, “Have you seen any interesting books lately?” And I am certain I will go to the library to check out some of the books in the bibliographic notes at the end of this book.

⭐The book is packed with fantastic card tricks that will surely dazzle friends and family (with enough practice), but goes beyond this by explaining the beautiful (often deep) mathematics behind the tricks. The book intersperses magic and mathematics in an engaging way that keeps the reader hooked. The book begins with a simple 4 card trick. Well, simple enough to perform; understanding is a different matter. The authors then explain what mathematical concepts (mostly involving combinations and permutations) are at the heart of the trick, and then generalize the principle involved into a truly impressive, more elaborate card trick. After that, it’s back to math to see exactly how and why the magic works. Later chapters follow similar patterns, where the reader is drawn in by a beautiful card trick and the beauty is then heightened with a clear explanation of the underlying mathematics. Along the way, the authors give excellent advice on how often to rehearse the tricks before performing as well as entertaining tips to make for a more engaging performance. The mathematics is presented in digestible bites, with excellent examples and illuminating illustrations.But be warned: this isn’t your simple high school math! Many of these tricks employ sophisticated mathematics using Combinatorics, Group Theory, Graph Theory and more. Fortunately, the authors are adept at explaining these complicated concepts in a clear fashion, but the novice reader may have some trouble following some of the proofs. Hopefully, the reader will be so inspired by the beauty of the subject, that she’ll see it as motivation to learn more mathematics! In fact, the authors’ unapologetic goal with this text is to corrupt youngsters of all ages into pursuing mathematics in much the same way that the authors themselves were seduced by the subject. Here’s hoping they succeed with you as they have with me!

⭐The authors are eminent mathematicians and I commend their willingness to step out of their comfort zone to demonstrate how the art of magic benefits from mathematical principles. Their mathematical expertise is unquestioned and the book highly entertaining. I enjoyed it, but with the following reservations.I wasn’t impressed by the research that went into this book coming as it does from prominent professors at the University of California and Stanford. The authors clearly know their math but their research into the magic is superficial at best. Magicians have their own extensive literature about which the authors seem oblivious and that goes beyond Martin Gardner. If they had consulted other magicians, they might have discovered the mathematics already in use and given proper credit.For example, I would have expected at least a mention of magician Phil Goldstein’s incredible work with the Gilbreath Principle and magician Leo Boudreau’s wizardry with de Bruijn Sequences (in no fewer than two books). Their absence from any mention, among others, is a gaping hole in the authors’ research. I doubt they would tolerate the same superficiality from students and peers in their own field. I know my profs wouldn’t.

⭐Fun and interesting. Light and also serious. If you like math you’ll enjoy this book. The book wanders in the later chapters but starts with fun magic and math. The book raises and partially explains some lesser known mathematical theory while using the properties to explain magic tricks. The magic tricks described are real and can be done by anyone – once revealed. Though an engineer and a math-o-phile I had to work more than expected on some of the concepts with which I was unfamiliar. You might not understand it all, but you will enjoy reading it, and you’ll have a few parlor tricks for your next party.

⭐Nice mathematical magic book with maths details of the trick . if you like to know the maths behind the tricks, this book is for youI like the tricks part but the mathematics is too heavy for m

⭐Well written. If you like math and magic, this is for you. Just wonderful, VERY engaging tricks for the amateur magician. Not written in such a dumbed down level as to bore you, but also doesn’t overly write the tricks so they are hard to understand. Perfectly written with some illustrations to capture your attention.Probably would rate this a 9 out of 10.

⭐three really great tricks in the first few pages make the book worth getting. However it rapidly turns into a mathematical jumble of numbers that only a mathematician would appreciate or understand. Way, way over my head!

⭐Excellent book

⭐Everyone should read it – especially if they “can’t do maths”! It opens a whole new door to the world of numbers and conjuring. (And service from the book dealer was first class.)

⭐Hi I have read the first three chapters so far and liked it.This book is fascinating. It explains nice card tricks, but a lot of this book is handwavy and I had the impression that the authors tried to avoid explaining a lot of mathemtics.For instance: they give the enumeration formula of DeBruijn sequences, but do not give a proof. Many things are mentioned but not proved. I had hoped for less chatting about how fascinating everything is, but more card tricks and their proofs.But maybe the next chapters are more of the kind that I like.

⭐I am not a mathematician or even a particularly good amature magician but if you want to really read and think ,this book brings to light ideas such as perfect shuffles and the men who invented great ideas in the magical field. It is interesting that one of the great modern magicians Ricky Jay, tips his hat to on of the authors for inspiring him to be a magician. I also was at a Penn and Teller performance where they too mentioned one of the writers as the authority on card magic. A fascinating book if you can get through the mathematical jargon.

⭐Solo si te gustan de verdad las matemáticas.Riguroso e interesante.

⭐

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