"How'd They Do That?"

The new issue of Scientific American Mind has an interesting excerpt from Stephen L. Macknik and Susanna Martinez Conde's new book Sleights of Mind: What the Neuroscience of Magic Reveals About Our Everyday Deceptions (Henry Holt, 2010). The excerpt (and book) reveal the basis for some tricks, and contains interviews with Apollo Robbins, Teller, and other greats. But more than that, this book continues the conversation about how and why magic works, as well as why it fascinates us.