Visual Magic

by David Thomson

When a random pattern of squares suddenly forms a face, when the press-out black-and-white spinning wheel bursts into color, or when special glasses transform a series of dots into 3-D splendor—then visual magic is in the air. These 30 tricks and illusions are delightful, puzzling, and often beautiful. Readers will wonder: are those lines really straight, or are they curved? Is this shape moving…and if so, which way? Could a picture of a goldfish actually vanish from the page? The marvelous images include a 16th-century painting that looks like a bowl of vegetables—until the book’s turned upside down—and Upstairs, Downstairs, M.C. Escher’s fascinating drawing of an “impossible” house. Each illusion offers insight into how our perception works.

64 pages, Paperback

First published October 28, 1991

About the author

David Thomson, renowned as one of the great living authorities on the movies, is the author of The New Biographical Dictionary of Film, now in its fifth edition. His books include a biography of Nicole Kidman and The Whole Equation: A History of Hollywood. Thomson is also the author of the acclaimed "Have You Seen . . . ?": A Personal Introduction to 1,000 Films. Born in London in 1941, he now lives in San Francisco.

Reviews

[Carlos West · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all, the author, who I would say is not the same David Thomson of film book fame, is certainly qualified to write this book. David (William David) Thomson, PH.D. is a lecturer in visual science/optometry! This isn't your run of the mill optical illusion book. As an interactive book you'll be able to look at a picture and get an "after image", reverse colors, make a parrot go back in it's cage, find hidden images, one picture that is actually 2, make a goldfish vanish, etc., etc.
And yet, while that is all very good, it's the 3D images that are some of the best ever to appear in book form! In particular, the line drawing of an open box with a pyramid. Place the open book on the floor and you would swear that you can hold your hand straight out and touch the pyramid! Very high quality paper too. Some weird famous painting that you might not have ever seen thrown in to boot! The 3D glasses work perfectly.