Magical Mathematics
by Persi Diaconis, Ronald L. Graham · first published 2011
50% recommend50% neutral
"Magical Mathematics reveals the secrets of amazing, fun-to-perform card tricks--and the profound mathematical ideas behind them--that will astound even the most accomplished magician. Persi Diaconis and Ron Graham provide easy, step-by-step instructions for each trick, explaining how to set up the effect and offering tips on what to say and do while performing it. Each card trick introduces a new mathematical idea, and varying the tricks in turn takes readers to the very threshold of today's mathematical knowledge. For example, the Gilbreath principle--a fantastic effect where the cards remai
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This is a beautiful book, especially if he or she is into magic: Magical Mathematics: The Mathematical Ideas That Animate Great Magic Tricks by Persi Diaconis, Ron Graham
on “Ask HN: Recommend a maths book for a teenager?” ↗Perci is a fascinating and very accomplished guy. His book "Magical Mathematics" is really interesting. There's actually a long history of math and comp sci folks who were very good magicians. Alex Elmsley, Bob Hummer, Martin Gardner are a few other to check out if you're into that…
on “Magician-turned-mathematician uncovers bias in coin flipping (2004)” ↗Magical Mathematics is great! Dense actually, walks the "layperson" through proving how some complex card magic works with combinatorics. Really fun read, some mind bending stuff in there! The math is harder than one would…
on “Magician-turned-mathematician uncovers bias in coin flipping (2004)” ↗Any of his books worth reading? Group Representations In Probability And Statistics Magical Mathematics: The Mathematical Ideas That Animate Great Magic Tricks — winner of the 2013 Euler Book Prize
on “Magician-turned-mathematician uncovers bias in coin flipping (2004)” ↗Wow, very sad to hear this. I am a big fan of Professor Graham. I owned many of his books - Magical Mathematics, Rudiments of Ramsey Theory, Concrete Mathematics, Handbook of Combinatorics. I attended an AMS conference in San Diego a while back and asked him to sign my Erdos on Graphs book after listening to his…
on “Ron Graham has died” ↗