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The Magic of Computer Science

Pick a card, any card!

Behind great magic there often lies some interesting maths or computer science, buried in the secret of how the trick works. To be a good magician you need to know more than just the secret though. Great magicians also have a flair for cognitive psychology: they have a natural understanding of people. It turns out that computer scientists use the same psychology as the magicians in designing usable computer systems.

Intrigued? Read on.

You will learn how to do a bunch of tricks. It isn't just magic though. All the tricks have links to computer science - and not just because of high technology. In fact high technology hardly comes in to our magic shows at all, though yesterday's magic often becomes today's technology. It is then taken for granted as the magic seeps away.

Highlights

Download our free books on the Magic of Computer Science ...or read it all (and more) online below.

Illusioneering Magic and Science

A rabbit Explore the world of Illusioneering

The 21 card trick (online magic)

Mathemagic The one where the computer reads your mind

Duplicating Dynamo's domino demonstration

Dominos Magic with dominos and reskinning code

The mind boggling memory experiment

Mathemagic The one where you memorize the whole pack

Snaps from the Past

Mathemagic Photographing Magic

Some more mathematical magic

Mathemagic The ones based on mathematics...

Done with the magic? Why not move on to Illusions.