Optical Illusions : The Science of Visual Perception

by Seckel, Al

• ISBN13: 9781554071722
• ISBN10: 1554071720
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-01-01
• Publisher: Firefly Books Ltd

Summary

This intriguing collection contains more than 275 optical illusions that appear to change before your eyes. Al Seckel carefully selected both well-known images, such as Shepard's tabletop, Wade's spiral, Ames room and Rubin's face/vase, and many lesser-known, but no less effective, illusions.Every type of optical illusion is here, along with notes about the science of each visual perception and how the illusions work. Among the baffling images and shapes are:Figure/ground illusions, in which one shape switches into another then back again Ambiguous figures Impossible objects Trompe l'oeil Stereo illusions.With illusions rendered in photography, artwork and computer imaging, and a huge variety of themes and effects, Optical Illusions dazzles both the mind and the eye.

Author Biography

Al Seckel is a leading authority on visual and other types of sensory illusions. He lectures extensively at the world's most prestigious universities and is the author of several best-selling and award-winning books on this subject. He also writes an illusion column in National Geographic Kids magazine and is active in designing and building interactive galleries on illusions, perception, puzzles and mazes. He teaches at the University of California and lives in Los Angeles.

Al Seckel is a leading authority on visual and other types of sensory illusions. He lectures extensively at the world's most prestigious universities and is the author of several best-selling and award-winning books on this subject. He also writes an illusion column in National Geographic Kids magazine and is active in designing and building interactive galleries on illusions, perception, puzzles and mazes. He teaches at the University of California and lives in Los Angeles.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. 4
Your Mind's Eye	p. 5
Illusions	p. 9
What's Going On?	p. 282
Glossary	p. 309
Further Reading	p. 310
Illusion Category Index	p. 311
Image Credits	p. 312
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpts

PrefacePart of the fun of this book will involve being tricked, fooled, and misled. Being fooled has nothing to do with how smart you are, how cultured you are, how artistic you are or how old. You will be tricked. In fact, many of the illusions are so powerful you will doubt the written description. Others are so convincing, you will not know what the illusion is until you read the caption.This volume is by far the most comprehensive collection of illusions ever published. A good number come from recent work in vision and perception laboratories and others come from a variety of modern artists who have deliberately incorporated an illusion into a drawing, photograph, or sculpture. There are also quite a few illusions that have been created specially for this book. I have tried to provide a variety of different perceptual experiences. Many of the illusions in this book appear here for the first time in print. Of course, you will find the familiar classics here too.The chapter "Your Mind's Eye" puts the illusions into a framework of modern understanding. At the back of the book you will find a chapter "What's Going On?" that provides brief scientific explanations of our best guesses for why these effects occur and how they are consistent with the processes that mediate normal perception. There is also a glossary of technical terms that are used throughout the text, a category index so you can compare similar examples of the same type of illusion as well as suggestions for further reading.