Why do card tricks work? How can magicians do astonishing feats of mathematics mentally? Why do stage "mind-reading" tricks work? As a rule we simply accept these tricks as "magic," we seldom recognize that they are really demonstrations of strict laws based on probability, sets, theory of numbers, topology and other branches of mathematics.

This is the first book-length study of this fascinating branch of recreational mathematics. Written by one of the foremost experts on mathematical magic, it summarizes, with considerable historical data and bibliography, all previous work in this field; it is also a creative examination of laws and their exemplification, with scores of new tricks, new insights and new demonstrations. In this volume, for the first time, dozens of topological tricks are explained and dozens of manipulation tricks are aligned with mathematical law.

Non-technical, detailed and clear, this volume contains 115 sections discussing tricks with cards, dice, coins, etc.; topol