Science in its broadest definition contains a wide range of disciplines. Social scientists seek to understand humanity while in the exact or natural sciences, researchers seek to understand nature. In the applied sciences these theories are brought to practical use. To fully understand the world a multidisciplinary view is required, no one science can provide us with a full understanding.
This is also the case in the specialist research regarding the science of magic. Researchers from a wide range of disciplines view magic shows in many different ways, each seeking to understand this quaint performance art in their own perspectives. View the The Science of Magic slide show below for an overview.
For an overview of the different answers scientists have provided to these questions, read the online annotated bibliography.
Very nice, Peter. Those Prezis are pretty darn sexy. Allow me to weigh in briefly on your framing of magic in the study of perceptual psychology. I think psychologists are interested in magic not because the perception of magic tricks is interesting in and of itself (although, I think it is), but because magic provides an ecologically valid way to study the limitations of attention and perception. Take, for example, Dan Simons’ iconic gorilla video. It’s rare to be at a basketball game and miss a gorilla walking right in front of you, but it’s not so rare to be at a magic show and miss all sorts of things that are happening right in front of your eyes. Furthermore, magic provides a medium for testing perceptual theories derived from artificial laboratory studies in real-world settings. For example, I’m currently re-examining some weird findings first described by Mack & Rock in their lengthy book on inattentional blindness (based on extremely artificial lab experiments) in the natural context of a magic trick. The observations become far more compelling when they’re demonstrated to have a discernible effect in the real world!
Well done…Keep up the good work!
Thanks for the update Tony. I am looking forward to reading your future research on the topic.
I am currently finalising the manuscript for a book on the science of magic from a multidisciplinary perspective. The collection of papers and books I am using provide a fascinating perspective on magic’s past, present and future.
P.S. I have reworded the Prezi slightly.