Recommend books of optical illusions?
December 8, 2023 7:26 AM Subscribe
I'd like to buy a few books of optical illusions. Preferences inside, but feel free to recommend any you have personally enjoyed!
These will be nominally for my kid (6.5yo), but they don't have to be marketed at kids, and my preference is for quality of book and illusions over kid-friendliness.
Strong preferences:
* Full color
* Includes "modern" illusions as well as classics. By this I mean some of the really wild stuff that has come out of neuroscience/optics/psychology research in the past few decades. E.g. the work in the vein of/inspired by/ derivative of Akiyoshi Kitaoka, who seemingly busted this field wide open with his "rotating snakes" in 2003. (I will be ordering his book Trick Eyes (2005))
Optional:
*Inexpensive (I expect to spend a lot on some, less on others. Maybe a Dover book?)
*Available at bookshop.org, my LBS, or some other more ethical place to shop online
*Some attempt at explanation, history, or context of the illusions
Extra:
Books that have fun and surprising visual delights, if not in the common sense of optical illusions. Things like Moiré patterns in motion, images that resolve in cylindrical mirrors, zoetropic or kaleidoscopic effects, etc.
Thanks!
These will be nominally for my kid (6.5yo), but they don't have to be marketed at kids, and my preference is for quality of book and illusions over kid-friendliness.
Strong preferences:
* Full color
* Includes "modern" illusions as well as classics. By this I mean some of the really wild stuff that has come out of neuroscience/optics/psychology research in the past few decades. E.g. the work in the vein of/inspired by/ derivative of Akiyoshi Kitaoka, who seemingly busted this field wide open with his "rotating snakes" in 2003. (I will be ordering his book Trick Eyes (2005))
Optional:
*Inexpensive (I expect to spend a lot on some, less on others. Maybe a Dover book?)
*Available at bookshop.org, my LBS, or some other more ethical place to shop online
*Some attempt at explanation, history, or context of the illusions
Extra:
Books that have fun and surprising visual delights, if not in the common sense of optical illusions. Things like Moiré patterns in motion, images that resolve in cylindrical mirrors, zoetropic or kaleidoscopic effects, etc.
Thanks!
There are a lot of used options here, including books on drawing your own illusions. I don't have specific recommendations though.
posted by spamandkimchi at 3:04 PM on December 8, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by spamandkimchi at 3:04 PM on December 8, 2023 [1 favorite]
In the "other visual delights" category, you might like Takahiro Kurashima's Poemotion books.
... if you can find copies at non-wild prices, I see, yikes.
posted by away for regrooving at 8:03 PM on December 8, 2023
... if you can find copies at non-wild prices, I see, yikes.
posted by away for regrooving at 8:03 PM on December 8, 2023
I grew up with Pentamagic by Pentagram and remember liking it a lot. The cover blurb describes it as "eye-catching", and I think that's an apt description. I would definitely hand off a copy to a child of any age who is interested in optical illusions.
posted by Lirp at 11:32 PM on December 10, 2023
posted by Lirp at 11:32 PM on December 10, 2023
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And I've just gotten him this one for Christmas. He saw it at a friend's house and was very interested in it.
I've used Amazon links for reference, but both of these are widely available.
Tangentially, YouTube is a goldmine of time-based optical illusions. Classics like the Ames Room really only work when they unfold in time.
posted by Dr. Wu at 10:31 AM on December 8, 2023 [1 favorite]