Make Your Own Optical Illusions: 50 Hands-On Models and Experiment to Make and Do

by Clive Gifford, Rob Ives (Illustrations)

 Optical Illusions is a mind-bending introduction to the science of optical illusions, packed with clearly presented, hands-on projects and experiments for the reader to make and do. Combining innovative paper engineering, off-the-page fun and the use of smartphone cameras, this accessible introduction also gives an insight into the neuroscience behind how our brains and our eyes interact. Sure to enthrall and engage amateur psychologists and makers alike. 

64 pages, Hardcover

Published May 21, 2019

About the author

Clive Gifford is a highly experienced journalist and author with over 170 books published and more than 800 features and stories written for adults and children.

Clive is an unusual author who likes to work in both fiction and non-fiction. Perhaps this reflects his unusual life which, so far, has seen him travel to over 70 countries, be held hostage in Colombia, go parachuting, coach several sports and run a computer games company.

He says: "What drives me more than anything else is the desire to communicate, entertain and inform through the written word."

Reviews

[Etienne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect book to discover optical illusion but also understand how they work and why those have strange effects on your brain. It also have so building experiment to do, but having the e-book version I can’t comment on the quality of the material that the book provide. I always like optical illusion has a kid and I can see why and who might like this book. Well done!

[Vidya Tiru · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick Thoughts: I have loved optical illusions since forever, and of course totally awed by M.C. Escher and his fantastical creations. This book rekindled that long-time fascination in an instant! It takes readers on a tour of the different types of optical illusions, explaining the same with straightforward definitions, examples, and how-tos as well as DIYs in the form of step-by-step experiments as well as tear-out sheets for models. While I read the digital copy of this book, I have gifted this to others. No doubt, I will be gifting it to myself soon enough! Tip: you could copy on the templates of the tear-out sheets onto cardstock rather than tearing them out actually!!

Totally, totally ingenious and innovative! A book that is sure to provide hours of fun while learning and creating.
Source: Review copy from Netgalley

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book stood out to me in that it invited the reader to get involved immediately, I loved that! My children (ages 5, 10, 14) and I sat together on a rainy day and read through this book, while engaging in the activities. The colors were vibrant and the information provided was just enough to keep our interest but yet not overwhelm us. I would love to own a hard copy of this book so we can complete the cut out activities suggested. I would highly recommend adding this to a home library as well as a classroom library.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a free digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[JCS · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book for anyone with an enquiring mind who loves optical illusions or tricks. Some of the illusions are to look at and then have an explanation of why they give that particular illusion. Others are for you to try out and make yourself. Lots of fun things to try out, some will take a little organising while others are quite straight forward. My favourite has to be the illusory motion - captivating! Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher, Quarto for an ARC.

[Lee Peckover · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fine book that s filled with interesting little optical illusions that some children will likely love, while others may be indifferent about. This is the sort of book I'd have enjoyed at about age 8 or 9 and ideal for early key stage 2 learners. A little much for the age range I usually work with, but I could see some schools making good use of this.

[Laura Duffy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing fun book for kids, not only does it allow you to make and enjoy your optical illusion but it also gives you the knowledge to understand how they work which almost makes them seem more amazing. Its perfect how it has some of the most famous optical illusions that we would all be familiar with and some new ones that you will continue to be fascinated with.

[Stefanie Foard · Rating 3 out of 5]

*I read a digital ARC of this title from the publisher via NetGalley.

[IUS F19 ERIC WISE · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a very interesting book that teaches there are multiple points of views to see what the image(s) represent.

[Kate]

The simple one-page illusions at the beginning of the book are fun, with some science-y explanations of how they work. The 3-d illusions need a lot of finesse to get glued together. Some photos of the finished rotator would be very helpful. Perhaps if mine works out I'll be able to put some up somewhere. Right now it's about half done and I'm stumped on the sides/top/bottom of the box.