"Magical Mathematics: The Mathematical Ideas That Animate Great Magic Tricks" by Persi Diaconis and Ron Graham
Suggested Retail USD$29.95
Available from your favorite dealer
In a Blink: 10 Out of 10

"Magical Mathematics", a book by Persi Diaconis and Ron Graham, is something special: an in-depth, hardcore, math-minded look at math and the magic it creates while maintaining a warm charm that is so winning as to make even the most complex formula seem warm and fuzzy. In short, this is as magical as it gets.

This isn't hype, folks; "Magical Mathematics" is the real deal. What Diaconis (professor of mathematics and statistics at Stanford University and magician) and Graham (professor of mathematics and computer science at UofC/San Diego and juggler) have assembled here is nothing short of amazing. It is a book that teaches simply great magic routines based on mathematical ideas - some complex, some sublime - which, in turn, teaches incredible, though often complex, mathematical ideas simply through magic routines.

It's a delightful cycle that is truly fascinating. You'll find yourself learning the magic routine, then going through it over and over until the mathematical idea behind it suddenly clicks into place and, quicker than you can say "Bob Hummer", you've gotten a grasp on Fermat's Last Theorem and fractal geometry. Now, that's not a bad deal at all.

Okay, okay… I will admit that the complexity of the mathematical formulas behind the tricks can be incredibly complicated and daunting, if not outright impossible to understand without proper training and lots of it. However, virtually all such things are removed from "Magical Mathematics", instead relying on Diaconis and Graham to be not just mathematicians and entertainers but also storytellers as well, weaving tales as to make the formulas redundant but the ideas easy to grasp.

A word of warning, though: this ain't your typical "math trick" book. You're not dealing with simple things like the properties of prime numbers here. To borrow from the ad copy, you're talking things like combinatorics, graph theory, the Riemann hypothesis… intimidated yet?

Don't be. The magic is wonderful and the math something that will sink in almost by osmosis. You'll be treated to some great stories along the way and learn to look at things just askew enough to keep things interesting (the mathematics behind the art of juggling, anybody?).

I honestly have no criticism of "Magical Mathematics" at all. Oh, I could go off on a mini-rant about there not being enough topological material (I've been spoilt rotten by Bob Neale and Terry Rogers), but honestly that's personal preference (and a hint for Messrs. Diaconis and Graham in case they can be tempted into another collaboration).

You see, "Magical Mathematics" boils down to this: the magic is good enough to go into many an act, the instruction in mathematics thorough enough to have you using the principles in your own tricks, and the book on the whole is engaging and entertaining. "Magical Mathematics" is a triple-threat, a three-fer that is a simple must-have for anyone interested in math-based magic (though at times you'll swear you're looking at magic-based mathematics!)

This is one I strongly recommend to all math-mages, bar none.

"Magical Mathematics: The Mathematical Ideas That Animate Great Magic Tricks"
by Persi Diaconis and Ron Graham
In a Blink: 10 Out of 10

Material: 10
The material is, in a word, wonderful. The magic goes from good to grand, with stopovers in math that are intriguing and, yes, enjoyable. Through in humor and wit and sheer entertainment, and you're talking gold here.

Quality: 10
It's rare to see a book as well done as this one. Beautifully written, excellently, produced, you will have no problems learning the material because of sloppy work, that's for sure.

Illustrations: 10
My jaw dropped here. There are tons and reams and just plain bushels of wonderfully-shot color photos to aid in learning the material. Thanks to a great layout and editing job, the photos go a long way toward teaching the mechanics of the effects.

Presentation: 10
This is a little iffy because some of the material looks more like math than magic early on. However, it's because this book ramps from such things to pieces with much better presentations as the reader progresses through the mathematical concepts. The end of the journey is the thing here, not the start of the voyage, hence the well-earned thumbs-up here.

Shane

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