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Fooling Houdini

Fooling Houdini

By Alex Stone

Magicians, Mentalists, Math Geeks, and the Hidden Powers of the Mind. HarperCollins, 2012.

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13 mins read

12 Key insights

A brief summary of Fooling Houdini

An experienced magician/physicist provides an insider’s peek at the complex, surprising, and obscure world of magic, including its fascinating history, intriguing characters, and how it relates to science.

Key insights in Fooling Houdini

1
What do you get from this book? Walk alongside an amateur magician who explores the history and philosophies of magic
2
Performing magic tricks can be a pastime, but becoming a magician demands discipline and training
3
All magicians use their tricks and performances to fool you, but at least they’re honest about doing so
4
The shadowy realm of scams and cons has a deep connection to magic
5
At its core, secrecy is vital to magic – but it’s not everything
6
Scientific principles explain how the brain perceives the world and how magicians exploit that perception
7
Magic and science share the same principles, and the study of one discipline only serves to benefit the other
8
Magic’s newest cousin, mentalism, is a powerful drug of belief
9
A magician requires more than tricks – they need to put on a show!
10
Summary of the key insights
11
Selected critiques in brief
12
Final Word

Who should read Fooling Houdini

Amateur magicians • performers • artists • scientists • fans of magic • mathematicians

About the author of Fooling Houdini

Alex Stone is an amateur magician who has written articles for the Wall Street Journal, Harper’s, Discover, Science, and The New York Times. Stone graduated from Harvard with a bachelor’s degree in English and obtained his master’s degree in physics from Columbia University.

author avatar

Alex Stone

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