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Science Is Magic
Learn how to perform magic tricks and illusions using simple science experiments in this children's activity book for kids aged 7-9. Join science presenter Steve Mould, #1 bestselling author of How to be a Scientist, to find out the secrets behind amazing magic tricks. Learn how to bend water with a balloon, make a glass beaker disappear in oil, and wow your friends with levitating tinsel!
Each magic trick is explained using step-by-step photography, with the science behind each one described clearly and simply. Plus, interspersed throughout the book you'll find out how legendary magicians and illusionists, such as Harry Houdini, used science when performing their most famous tricks.
Kids will love impressing their friends and families with simple magic tricks that teach them valuable science lessons at the same time. Packed with optical illusions and fun facts - Science is Magic is a must for any wannabe scientist or magician.
Each magic trick is explained using step-by-step photography, with the science behind each one described clearly and simply. Plus, interspersed throughout the book you'll find out how legendary magicians and illusionists, such as Harry Houdini, used science when performing their most famous tricks.
Kids will love impressing their friends and families with simple magic tricks that teach them valuable science lessons at the same time. Packed with optical illusions and fun facts - Science is Magic is a must for any wannabe scientist or magician.
- GenresScienceNonfiction
96 pages, Hardcover
Published March 7, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
May 20, 2019
There are many of scientific education books of this type available for kids – and it’s nice to see one that pitches the levels just about right, making it attractive and fascinating, without delving too deeply into the physics.
There are over 40 examples given. About half of these are “magic” little non-messy experiments, using common household items (with mostly excellent visual results) that will produce a “wow” of appreciation from young minds. The rest give an easily assimilated account of apparently inexplicable, but natural occurrences (such as the mysterious “Solar Wind”, producing the aurora borealis) and how magicians and showmen like Houdini performed their tricks.
This book also exposes some of the old superstitions and nonsense that have puzzled an unsuspecting public for generations! The basic explanations of Newtonian physics, optics, surface tension, osmosis, the effects of pressure differences, etc., are well within the range of most enquiring young minds. However, it would be nicer and more helpful to go through the book with an adult - to clear up any misconceptions.
Overall, this is a very informative and educational book for kids
There are over 40 examples given. About half of these are “magic” little non-messy experiments, using common household items (with mostly excellent visual results) that will produce a “wow” of appreciation from young minds. The rest give an easily assimilated account of apparently inexplicable, but natural occurrences (such as the mysterious “Solar Wind”, producing the aurora borealis) and how magicians and showmen like Houdini performed their tricks.
This book also exposes some of the old superstitions and nonsense that have puzzled an unsuspecting public for generations! The basic explanations of Newtonian physics, optics, surface tension, osmosis, the effects of pressure differences, etc., are well within the range of most enquiring young minds. However, it would be nicer and more helpful to go through the book with an adult - to clear up any misconceptions.
Overall, this is a very informative and educational book for kids
September 16, 2019
A fun and engaging book that will both have kids eager to try out tricks on their parents & friends & also explains the science behind it. Reminded me of the "10 Bets you will win" series of videos by Richard Wiseman and Quirkology.
May 12, 2023
Dieses Buch war ein Zufallsfund in der Kinderbuchabteilung unserer Bibliothek. Irgendwie sprang es mich an und so nutzte ich die Gelegenheit und nahm es mit nach Hause. Dort war ich dann verblüfft darüber, wie viel mir dieses Buch trotz meiner 30+ Jahre noch beibringen konnte.
Gut, ich habe mich als Kind nie sonderlich für Zauberei interessiert, dennoch wird hier gut und einfach einiges erklärt, was in der Welt der Magier so vor sich geht. Auch viele physikalische Zusammenhänge werden erklärt. Hier fehlte mir manchmal ein bisschen was, aber für die junge Zielgruppe reicht es völlig aus.
Fasziniert war ich auch von den Tricks, die man selbst machen kann. Vor allem der fliehende Pfeffer hat es mir dermassen angetan, dass ich ihn gleich vorführen musste. Aber Achtung: nicht alle Sachen funktionieren hier in Europa. Amerikanische Dosen z.B. haben einen anderen Umfang als hiesige, sodass u.a. der Dosentrick leider in der Form nicht machbar ist.
Trotzdem, solltet ihr Kinder haben, und die Kleinen tauchen mit diesem Werk auf - werft doch auch mal einen Blick hinein. Lesende, die sich für Phänomene interessieren, aber kein trockenes Sachbuch dazu lesen wollen - warum auch nicht?
Ich zumindest hatte meinen Spass damit.
Gut, ich habe mich als Kind nie sonderlich für Zauberei interessiert, dennoch wird hier gut und einfach einiges erklärt, was in der Welt der Magier so vor sich geht. Auch viele physikalische Zusammenhänge werden erklärt. Hier fehlte mir manchmal ein bisschen was, aber für die junge Zielgruppe reicht es völlig aus.
Fasziniert war ich auch von den Tricks, die man selbst machen kann. Vor allem der fliehende Pfeffer hat es mir dermassen angetan, dass ich ihn gleich vorführen musste. Aber Achtung: nicht alle Sachen funktionieren hier in Europa. Amerikanische Dosen z.B. haben einen anderen Umfang als hiesige, sodass u.a. der Dosentrick leider in der Form nicht machbar ist.
Trotzdem, solltet ihr Kinder haben, und die Kleinen tauchen mit diesem Werk auf - werft doch auch mal einen Blick hinein. Lesende, die sich für Phänomene interessieren, aber kein trockenes Sachbuch dazu lesen wollen - warum auch nicht?
Ich zumindest hatte meinen Spass damit.
December 18, 2020
We've had this checked out from the library for a long, long time (checkout periods have been extended because of the pandemic). So we've had time to do a lot of these tricks and most of them have been great! My daughter's 1st grade class was especially impressed with the soda can jumping out of the mug. We never mastered the coins on a bottle one, though. Overall, this has provided hours and hours of educational entertainment over many months.
October 12, 2022
My 8 year old loved this book! We had lots of fun discussing and doing some experiments!
July 20, 2019
This is an informative and entertaining book for kids that will teach them science and give them some fun magic tricks. It even goes into the explanations behind strange and supernatural seeming natural phenomena like the Northern Lights. There are lots of simple science and "magic" tricks and I tried one on my two youngest kids, making their fingers supposedly become magnetic and pull towards each other. Mould also debunks things like crystals and water dowsing, but I'm not sure that I agree with him that anything that we can't explain can't be real. My husband told me about dowsing years ago and I set out to prove him wrong because I was sure it was hogwash. Our little handmade dowsing rod found water below us even though I didn't know in advance where it was. I couldn't explain it (I was the one holding the dowsing rod and I didn't believe in it) but it did seem to work. Mould points out that they used dowsing to find the best place to drill wells and just says that science has never found an explanation for why it would work so he says it can't be true. Science still can't explain why anesthesia works either, but I'll still choose that when I have surgery. :)
In any case, this is a brightly illustrated, fun book for kids of all ages are sure to enjoy.
My rating system:
1 = hated it
2 = it was okay
3 = liked it
4 = really liked it
5 = love it, plan to purchase, and/or would buy it again if it was lost
I read a temporary digital ARC of the book for the purpose of review.
In any case, this is a brightly illustrated, fun book for kids of all ages are sure to enjoy.
My rating system:
1 = hated it
2 = it was okay
3 = liked it
4 = really liked it
5 = love it, plan to purchase, and/or would buy it again if it was lost
I read a temporary digital ARC of the book for the purpose of review.
February 11, 2019
Hilarious ~ Surprising ~ Clear
tl;dr: As if David Copperfield the magician and Bill Nye wrote a children's how-to book.
We all have those brilliant little kooks in our lives, the ones with big laughs and insatiable curiosity. This book is for them. Each spread shows the hows and whys of sort of funny science experiments like disappearing glass or non-drip punctured bags. I have read many of these science how-to books, and most go over the same old things. This book does have some of those like the red cabbage dye. But, most projects are different and the approach to all is really clear and amusing. I am excited to purchase the book for the big nerds in my family.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange of an honest review.
tl;dr: As if David Copperfield the magician and Bill Nye wrote a children's how-to book.
We all have those brilliant little kooks in our lives, the ones with big laughs and insatiable curiosity. This book is for them. Each spread shows the hows and whys of sort of funny science experiments like disappearing glass or non-drip punctured bags. I have read many of these science how-to books, and most go over the same old things. This book does have some of those like the red cabbage dye. But, most projects are different and the approach to all is really clear and amusing. I am excited to purchase the book for the big nerds in my family.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange of an honest review.
December 24, 2021
Great book for kids, highly recommend for the young inquisitive minds.
April 13, 2019
Full of amazing magic meets science OR science meets magic...now I'm not actually sure which one comes first? What really matters is this gives amazing, clear, and fun ways to do tricks and discover things! Great photo illustrations!
p.s. So THAT'S how David Copperfield made the Statue of Liberty disappear!
p.s. So THAT'S how David Copperfield made the Statue of Liberty disappear!
January 28, 2024
The way we learn science effectively is to experiment and experience it.
Getting a lecture from a science teacher or reading a book is important.
However, when children actually perform science experiments and experience the changes they make, they will remember them for many years and will never forget the magic of science.
Getting a lecture from a science teacher or reading a book is important.
However, when children actually perform science experiments and experience the changes they make, they will remember them for many years and will never forget the magic of science.
March 9, 2019
Explore the magic of science and the science of magic. Learn the secrets and scientific principals behind amazing magic tricks and optical illusions and discover how famous magicians and illusionists use science for their most popular tricks.
Reviewer 14
Reviewer 14
May 27, 2019
A fun mix of science and magic for kids to experiment. Warnings for when adult assistance is required.
Read
September 6, 2024It's incredible!
March 18, 2019
Thank you DK and NetGalley for the review copy of Science is Magic. This collection of "magic tricks" that really examples of scientific concepts is a lot of fun. These are the types of projects we would do at our local makerspace that don't feel like learning. There are a wide variety of concepts covered in this book, and I like that the sidebar explains the science behind each "trick." It reminds me a bit of the TV show "Outrageous Acts of Science." The excellent anecdotal information added in throughout the book is a fun way to increase interest as well.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews