- Shopping Bag ( 0 items )
Want a NOOK? Explore Now
Magical Mathematics reveals the secrets of amazing, 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. For example, the Gilbreath Principle--a fantastic effect where the cards remain in control despite being shuffled--is found to share an intimate connection with the Mandelbrot set. Other card tricks link to the mathematical secrets of combinatorics, graph theory, number theory, topology, the Riemann hypothesis, and even Fermat's last theorem.
Diaconis and Graham are mathematicians as well as skilled performers with decades of professional experience between them. In this book they share a wealth of conjuring lore, including some closely guarded secrets of legendary magicians. Magical Mathematics covers the mathematics of juggling and shows how the I Ching connects to the history of probability and magic tricks both old and new. It tells the stories--and reveals the best tricks--of the eccentric and brilliant inventors of mathematical magic. Magical Mathematics 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 thirteenth century and the oldest mathematical trick--and much more.
Foreword ix
Preface xi
Chapter 1: Mathematics in the Air 1
Royal Hummer 8
Back to Magic 15
Chapter 2: In Cycles 17
The Magic of de Bruijn Sequences 18
Going Further 25
Chapter 3: Is This Stuff Actually Good For Anything? 30
Robotic Vision 30
Making Codes 34
To the Core of Our Being 38
This de Bruijn Stuff Is Cool but Can It Get You a Job? 42
Chapter 4: Universal Cycles 47
Order Matters 47
A Mind-reading Effect 52
Universal Cycles Again 55
Chapter 5: From the Gilbreath Principle to the Mandelbrot Set 61
The Gilbreath Principle 61
The Mandelbrot Set 72
Chapter 6: Neat Shuffles 84
A Mind-reading Computer 85
A Look Inside Perfect Shuffles 92
A Look Inside Monge and Milk Shuffles 96
A Look Inside Down-and-Under Shuffles 98
All the Shuffles Are Related 99
Chapter 7: The Oldest Mathematical Entertainment? 103
The Miracle Divination 105
How Many Magic Tricks Are There? 114
Chapter 8: Magic in the Book of Changes 119
Introduction to the Book of Changes 121
Using the I Ching for Divination 122
Probability and the Book of Changes 125
Some Magic (Tricks) 127
Probability and the I Ching 136
Chapter 9: What Goes Up Must Come Down 137
Writing It Down 138
Getting Started in Juggling 145 10 Stars of Mathematical Magic (and some of the best tricks in the book) 153
Alex Elmsley 156
Bob Neale 160
Henry Christ 173
Stewart James 181
Charles Thornton Jordan 189
Bob Hummer 201
Martin Gardner 211
Chapter 11: Going further 220
Chapter 12: on secrets 225
Notes 231
Index 239
Anonymous
Posted December 26, 2011
Card tricks and more based solely on math formulas that for the most part are easy to learn, and will knock the socks off your friends Get it and have some fun You don't need to know the math to make it work - but it's fun trying to understand the under- lying principle
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted December 15, 2012
D
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted September 26, 2012
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.
Anonymous
Posted July 11, 2012
Im on.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted June 25, 2012
Kk...srry im taking so long to awnser im telling my bf bye b4 he goes to england for 15 days:( hes leaving n bout two hours
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted June 25, 2012
You do know that everyone can still read this right. Because now everyone knows your password. Just sayin. Oh and btw i am not anybody pertending to be anybody so dont go all crazy.i am just a 15 year old girl.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted July 13, 2012
Hey guys whactha doing guys!
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.
Overview
Magical Mathematics reveals the secrets of amazing, 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 ...