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The Spectacle of Illusion: Deception, Magic and the Paranormal
Mesmerism, hypnotism, seances, spirit photographs, trance drawings, automata, trick photography, sleight of hand, ghost hunting, levitation, ectoplasmic ejaculations, ESP and many other tricks and practices are discussed in this fascinating exposé of our will to be deceived.
In The Spectacle of Illusion, professional magician-turned experimental psychologist Dr. Matthew L. Tompkins investigates the arts of deception as practiced and popularized by mesmerists, magicians and psychics since the early 18th century. Organized thematically within a broadly chronological trajectory, this compelling book explores how illusions perpetuated by magicians and fraudulent mystics can not only deceive our senses but also teach us about the inner workings of our minds. Indeed, modern scientists are increasingly turning to magic tricks to develop new techniques to examine human perception, memory and belief. Beginning by discussing mesmerism and spiritualism, the book moves on to consider how professional magicians such as John Nevil Maskelyne and Harry Houdini engaged with these movements – particularly how they set out to challenge and debunk paranormal claims. It also relates the interactions between magicians, mystics and scientists over the past 200 years, and reveals how the researchers who attempted to investigate magical and paranormal phenomena were themselves deceived, and what this can teach us about deception.
Highly illustrated throughout with entertaining and bizarre drawings, double-exposure spirit photographs and photographs of spoon-bending from hitherto inaccessible and un-mined archives, including the Wellcome Collection, the Harry Price Library, the Society for Physical Research, and last but not least, the Magic Circle’s closely guarded collection, the book also features newly commissioned photography of planchettes, rapping boards, tilting tables, ectoplasm, automata and illusion boxes. Concluding with a modern-day analysis of the science of magic and illusion, analysing surprisingly weird phenomena such as ideomotor action, sleep paralysis, choice blindness and the psychology of misdirection, this unnerving volume highlights how unreliable our minds can be, and how complicit they can be in the perpetuation of illusions.
In The Spectacle of Illusion, professional magician-turned experimental psychologist Dr. Matthew L. Tompkins investigates the arts of deception as practiced and popularized by mesmerists, magicians and psychics since the early 18th century. Organized thematically within a broadly chronological trajectory, this compelling book explores how illusions perpetuated by magicians and fraudulent mystics can not only deceive our senses but also teach us about the inner workings of our minds. Indeed, modern scientists are increasingly turning to magic tricks to develop new techniques to examine human perception, memory and belief. Beginning by discussing mesmerism and spiritualism, the book moves on to consider how professional magicians such as John Nevil Maskelyne and Harry Houdini engaged with these movements – particularly how they set out to challenge and debunk paranormal claims. It also relates the interactions between magicians, mystics and scientists over the past 200 years, and reveals how the researchers who attempted to investigate magical and paranormal phenomena were themselves deceived, and what this can teach us about deception.
Highly illustrated throughout with entertaining and bizarre drawings, double-exposure spirit photographs and photographs of spoon-bending from hitherto inaccessible and un-mined archives, including the Wellcome Collection, the Harry Price Library, the Society for Physical Research, and last but not least, the Magic Circle’s closely guarded collection, the book also features newly commissioned photography of planchettes, rapping boards, tilting tables, ectoplasm, automata and illusion boxes. Concluding with a modern-day analysis of the science of magic and illusion, analysing surprisingly weird phenomena such as ideomotor action, sleep paralysis, choice blindness and the psychology of misdirection, this unnerving volume highlights how unreliable our minds can be, and how complicit they can be in the perpetuation of illusions.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published March 19, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 8, 2023
Darn. This turns out to be more of a coffee table book. Lots and lots and lots of vintage seance/magic /paranormal/debunking memorabilia, interspersed with 2 page summaries of the history of those fields printed in a teeny tiny font. Maybe if I had stuck with it, there was a two page summary of the psychology of deception somewhere.
March 26, 2020
This book officially falls under the description- "lavishly illustrated." Filled with posters, photographs of seances and various paraphernalia. This book is a companion to an exhibit, and it must have been something to see.
Add to this, clear and insightful writing about the whole gamut of this topic - from various people who talked to spirits(some of whose names I recognize), magicians, people who exposed spiritualists as frauds, and psychologists who tried to find out how we can be fooled into seeing false information.
If you are interested in this topic, I would consider this a must for you.
Add to this, clear and insightful writing about the whole gamut of this topic - from various people who talked to spirits(some of whose names I recognize), magicians, people who exposed spiritualists as frauds, and psychologists who tried to find out how we can be fooled into seeing false information.
If you are interested in this topic, I would consider this a must for you.
May 1, 2019
A bit specialist but if you like the subject matter (As I do) you will love this book. Just finished in time for tomorrow's visit to the associated exhibition!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews