Champions of Illusion

A full-color celebration of stunning visual illusions and the science behind them.

"[An] entertaining compilation . . . Readers will find the visual puzzles positively addictive." —Physics Today

"Fascinating." ―Mental Floss


In Champions of Illusion, Susana Martinez-Conde and Stephen Macknik present a smorgasbord of mystifying images, many selected from their Best Illusion of the Year Contest. Whether it's false motion, tricks of perspective, or shifting colors, Champions of Illusion is packed with adventures in visual perception. If you have ever found yourself face-to-face with an utterly bewildering illusion, you know the powerful effect such images have on the mind. The question we often ask ourselves is, How is that possible? Martinez-Conde and Macknik, who study the intersection of neuroscience, illusions, and stage magic, explain just why we think we see the things we see.

The Best Illusion of the Year Contest draws entries from vision scientists, artists, magicians, and mathematicians bent on creating today's most beguiling illusions. Featuring the contest's most bizarre effects and unbelievable mind tricks, along with classic illusions and illuminating descriptions of what is actually going on in your brain when you are deceived by visuals on the page, Champions of Illusion is an electrifying mix of science and magic that you will not soon forget.

"Delightful, addictive, shareable―and an invaluable window on the functioning of the human brain." —Steven Pinker, Johnstone Professor of Psychology at Harvard University and bestselling author of How the Mind Works and The Better Angels of Our Nature

"Susana Martinez-Conde and Stephen Macknik are explorers of the cognitive wonderland. This collection of brain games and perceptual artifice showcases the gaps in our maps of reality." —Apollo Robbins, performer and world's leading expert on deception and pickpockets