Optical Illusions

Is Seeing Believing?..................................4

Light

Scintillating Grids.....................................6

Playing with Contrast................................8

An Extraordinary Sofa..............................9

Puzzling Colours...................................... 10

Colour Adaptation................................... 11

Restoring Colour...................................... 12

Neon Colours Effect................................. 13

Stained Glass Illusion.............................. 14

Making Colours....................................... 15

Rubber Ducks......................................... 16

Magic Heart.......................................... 17

Playing with Assimilation......................... 18

Mapmaker Illusion.................................. 19


Lines and Space

Different Lines........................................20

Poggendorff's Illusions, Lining Up..............22

Magic Straws........................................ 23

Roman Temple.......................................24

Tilted Letters...........................................25

Amazing Jastrow Playing Cards................ 26

Bulging Shapes......................................27

Wider or Taller?..................................... 28

Puzzling Hat Sizes, Hidden Right Angles....29

Incredible Circles, Sarcone's Ellipses..........30

Bigger or Smaller?.................................. 31

Hybrid Illusion........................................ 32

Leaning Towers......................................33

Disrupting Patterns..................................34

Impossible Structures...............................36

Impossible Shapes..................................38

Magic Glass..........................................40

Spot the Difference................................. 41

Bilateral Animals....................................42


Motion

Visual Flows...........................................44

Running Water.......................................46

Expanding Gothic Heart..........................47

Swirling Whirl........................................48

Hovering Hashtags.................................49

Sparkling Squares..................................50

Pulsing Star............................................ 51

The Brain

Pac-Man Illusion..................................... 52

Contours and 3-D Shapes........................54

Colours Affect Contours............................55

Aftereffects............................................56

Blurred Face..........................................57

The Mischievous Leprechaun.................... 58

Cheshire Cat.......................................... 59

Disappearing Spots................................60

Broken Plate?......................................... 61

Stereograms; 3-D Wonders...................... 62

Experiments

Sarcone's L-Shaped Puzzle.......................64

Remove the Glass from the Tray................65

Optics in a Glass: Reversing Fish..............66

A Toilet Tube "Squircle"........................... 67

Playing with Perspective..........................68

Make an Impossible Triangle....................69

Visual and Mental Blocks......................... 70

How to Walk Through Walls.................... 71

Circle to Square.....................................72

Make Your Own Hologram Projector......... 74

Hypnotic Disc........................................ 75

A Confusing Sign................................... 76

Dark Spot, Bright Spot.............................77

Footstep Illusion...................................... 78

How to "Levitate"....................................79

Photographing Levitation..........................80

Making Magic Dice................................ 81

Moving Pictures......................................82

Jastrow Magic Experiment.......................83

The Unpredictable Structure.....................84

Hole in the Hand Illusion.........................85

Geometric Illusion...................................86

Impossible Triangle................................. 87

Polypodous Elephants..............................88

Drawing Impossible Stairs........................89


Templates..............................................90

Answers................................................93

Glossary............................................... 94

Index....................................................96