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slowkneenuh Regular user After 5,278+ posts, only credited with 133 Posts 
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Not to wander too far from the subject of this thread, which I did. Does anyone know how Leo Boudreau is doing? It's been a long time since his last post.
John
"A poor workman always blames his tools" |
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landmark Inner circle within a triangle 5194 Posts
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A very enjoyable but very odd book. Perhaps like its authors. It's a melange of math, magic, and some great name-dropping stories that no one else could possibly have written. Who is the audience for this? It's not really clear--I guess anyone who wants to hear Persi and Ron talk about their passions and lives.
The content I found to be equally exhilarating and disappointing--the de Bruijn cycle chapters were very stimulating, both mathematically and magically; on the other hand, there are inexplicable gaps in the discussion of CATO that Bannon's Dear Mr. Fantasy covers in far more depth. The chapter on the Gilbreath principle is concise and illuminating in defining exactly what Gilbreath covers and doesn't cover--but from a magical standpoint, there's not much new here. For mathematicians, though, there are some surprising connections between that principle and fractals. The chapter on shuffles is fun in the mathematical connections that it makes among faros, Monge, Down/Under and Milk Shuffles, and there's a fascinating chapter on the 3 object divination that takes us to pre-Reginald Scot mathematical conjuring. The book concludes with brief biographical sketches of some great magical inventors, with anecdotes that only Diaconis could tell. In a short amount of space you get a real sense of who Stewart James, Bob Hummer, Henry Christ, Charles Jordan, Alex Elmsley were as people. Some effects from each of them are included, though again, I thought it odd that though Miraskill was mentioned, there was very little exploration of that principle, and its subsequent evolution into effects such as Shuffle-Bored (though perhaps it may be impossible to say anything more about Aronson's effects as he has already done such a thorough job himself!) Perhaps the best is hidden in the throwaways like the one that says BTW a 52-card de Bruijn cycle is possible, and is left as an exercise for the reader. Someone's gonna figure that one out, and when they do, have a killer effect! As has been pointed out, Amazon has even the hardcover edition available for a ridiculously low price--under $20. For that price, you will be greatly entertained and have some exercises that may well keep you busy through your retirement.
Click here to get Gerald Deutsch's Perverse Magic: The First Sixteen Years
All proceeds to Open Heart Magic charity. |
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LobowolfXXX Inner circle La Famiglia 1196 Posts
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Great review, Landmark. Thanks.
"Torture doesn't work" lol
Guess they forgot to tell Bill Buckley. "...as we reason and love, we are able to hope. And hope enables us to resist those things that would enslave us." |
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Mephisticator New user Canada 61 Posts
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Thanks for the comments and reviews everyone. Talking to my scientist father-in-law after reading them resulted in me just getting this excellent book for my birthday.
Just started reading and love it already. Will file a "beginner's perspective" review soon. Cheers, Kirk |
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boinko Elite user Illinois 427 Posts
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Agreed, Chris.
Leo Bourdreau's books are -- hands down -- fantastic. I've bought them from Lybrary. Several books I come back to again and again for ideas and tricks. |
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landmark Inner circle within a triangle 5194 Posts
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A few effects that I overlooked the first time through that are really worthwhile:
The effect that begins at the bottom of page 52, and the effect that begins at the bottom of page 193. For the first effect, if you use that set-up anyway, it's a great addition to the repertoire. For the latter, you can send your participant a sealed deck of Bikes(keeping in mind how Bikes are arranged), the instructions, and a SASE. Incredibly, it works. My present project is the Bell number partition cycle: B(5)=52. They give a nice starting point, but it's not an easy task to turn it into something useful. If anyone else wants to work with me on it, I'm game.
Click here to get Gerald Deutsch's Perverse Magic: The First Sixteen Years
All proceeds to Open Heart Magic charity. |
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panlives Inner circle 2087 Posts
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Quote:
On 2011-11-26 08:24, landmark wrote: Yes, nice pick-up on the “sealed deck in the mail” effect. LOTS of curious stuff going on in this book.
"Is there any point to which you would wish to draw my attention?"
"To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time." "The dog did nothing in the night-time." "That was the curious incident," remarked Sherlock Holmes. |
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landmark Inner circle within a triangle 5194 Posts
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Quote: I didn't realize it until tonight, but Leo Boudreau in one of his books (I'll leave it to you to find which one) solved that one a while ago. He has a DeBruijn code for 52 cards. The mental work can be relieved with a crib, but if you're up to memorizing a full deck stack, it's there for you. I had that book all this time and didn't realize what it was! So,
On 2011-11-26 08:24, landmark wrote: Effect: An ordinary deck of 52 unmarked cards is cut as many times as wished by a spectator. He then grabs a bunch of six cards from anywhere in the pack. He keeps one, and hands out the rest to five other spectators. Those with red cards are asked to close their eyes and visualize their cards. The performer names them; he then asks the others to close their eyes and visualize their cards--he names the other cards as well! This is exactly what happens, nothing left out.
Click here to get Gerald Deutsch's Perverse Magic: The First Sixteen Years
All proceeds to Open Heart Magic charity. |
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ASW Inner circle 1879 Posts
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Quote:
On 2011-11-03 17:31, Chris wrote: that should not have happened to two such distinguished math professors. Persi Diaconis and Ron Graham spend several chapters on de Bruijn cycles. However, they do not mention once Leo Boudreau the one man who has more than anybody else explored the applications of this method and understood its power. I can only assume that for whatever reason they are not familiar with Leo Boudreau's work. That is a gaping hole in their research. Did the content of the book rely on Boudreau's work? Or did it discuss general concepts or applications of the De Bruijn cycles that do not rely on Boudreau's work? It is not necessary to credit everyone who's ever published on card magic when you publish a card book - only those on whose work the book directly relies. I haven't read the book, so I'd be keen to know the nature of the problem, if there is one.
Whenever I find myself gripping anything too tightly I just ask myself "How would Guy Hollingworth hold this?"
A magician on the Genii Forum "I would respect VIPs if they respect history." Hideo Kato |
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ASW Inner circle 1879 Posts
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Oh wait, I just saw that you were simply advertising your wares. Nevermind.
Whenever I find myself gripping anything too tightly I just ask myself "How would Guy Hollingworth hold this?"
A magician on the Genii Forum "I would respect VIPs if they respect history." Hideo Kato |
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Chris Inner circle lybrary.com 1179 Posts
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ASW, most everybody who has studied de Bruijin cycles will agree that Leo Boudreau is the one person who has explored it more than any other, who has written about it more than any other, and who has innovated and created with it more than any other. Of course, there is no 'requirement' to mention him or anybody else for that matter. However, the authors have an extensive bibliography and do in other chapters a very good and fine job in crediting and referencing many others who had only tangential influences. Why they ignore Boudreau's work is beyond me. And now we are even learning that Boudreau has published a solution to one of the open Diaconis problems many years ago. This shows the size of the omission by the authors. But even without it I feel it is a fair point of criticism.
Actually Ron Graham emailed me stating that Diaconis is aware of Boudreau's work. This to me makes the omission even more incomprehensible. Why Leo Boudreau has not earned a little footnote or entry in the bibliography is beyond me.
Lybrary.com preserving magic one book at a time.
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ASW Inner circle 1879 Posts
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Can't please or mention everyone, I guess.
Whenever I find myself gripping anything too tightly I just ask myself "How would Guy Hollingworth hold this?"
A magician on the Genii Forum "I would respect VIPs if they respect history." Hideo Kato |
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Chris Inner circle lybrary.com 1179 Posts
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Yeah sure not everyone can be mentioned, but forgetting the most prominent and active guy working in that area is a bit of a gaping hole, don't you think?
Lybrary.com preserving magic one book at a time.
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lboudreau Loyal user Alexandria, Virginia 288 Posts
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I don’t lay claim to the magical applications of De Bruijn Sequences, nor does Persi Diaconis. Charles T. Jordan’s “Coluria” is the earliest magical effect to make use of a De Bruijn Sequence. It was published in 1919 as one of Jordan’s “Thirty Card Mysteries.” Both Diaconis and I credit Charles Jordan, among other early innovators.
ASW asks: “Did the content of the book rely on Boudreau's work? Or did it discuss general concepts or applications of the De Bruijn cycles that do not rely on Boudreau's work?” The effects in the Diaconis book rely largely on Jordan’s work with one notable exception. In Chapter 4, the authors describe an effect called “Order Matters” which they claim to have invented with the chemist-magician Ronald Wohl. It relies on the ordering of the cards in a deck in a De Bruijn Sequence that assures that each consecutive group of five cards has a unique signature. In this case, the signature is “highest, next highest, third highest.” In Chapter 1 of my book “Spirited Pasteboards,” I describe an effect “Mountain Valley Stack” which relies on the ordering of the cards in a deck in a De Bruijn Sequence that assures that each group of five cards has a unique signature. In this case, the signature is “highest, lowest.” Though not identical, I find the effects suspiciously similar. To my knowledge, prior to the publication of “Spirited Pasteboards,” nobody taught how to order the cards in a deck so that any consecutive group of five cards yields a unique signature based simply on rank. I concede that Diaconis’ addition of a third ranking element is an improvement over my approach, but it is just that – an improvement. It relies on a teaching in my book. Is that worth a mention, a footnote, whatever? I think Chris has it right. Thanks, Chris, for your support. To suggest that you’re doing it simply to advertise your wares is appalling.
LEO
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slowkneenuh Regular user After 5,278+ posts, only credited with 133 Posts
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Leo, It's good to hear from you! As a fellow RI'er, I was depressed that the Ocean State lost such a creative mind. Thanks to Chris, access to your material continues to inspire and enlighten practitioners of magical effects.
As an owner of the book in question and your material, I also feel you are not receiving fair recognition. However your modest reponse shows you are a true gentleman! Happy New Year, best wishes, stay healthy, and thank you again for your significant contributions in entertaining us all throughout the years! John
John
"A poor workman always blames his tools" |
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ASW Inner circle 1879 Posts
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Lboudreau, all that assumes the authors are familiar with your publications.
Whenever I find myself gripping anything too tightly I just ask myself "How would Guy Hollingworth hold this?"
A magician on the Genii Forum "I would respect VIPs if they respect history." Hideo Kato |
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lboudreau Loyal user Alexandria, Virginia 288 Posts
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Quote:
On 2011-12-30 13:42, Chris wrote: Need I say more?
LEO
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lboudreau Loyal user Alexandria, Virginia 288 Posts
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Quote:
On 2011-12-31 18:46, slowkneenuh wrote: Likewise John and Happy 2012! I miss Rhode Island, its lovely beaches and the cool Atlantic breeze in the summer. I return whenever I can.
LEO
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ASW Inner circle 1879 Posts
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Quote:
On 2012-01-01 01:44, lboudreau wrote: I see. Have you tried contacting the authors? What do they have to say about this issue?
Whenever I find myself gripping anything too tightly I just ask myself "How would Guy Hollingworth hold this?"
A magician on the Genii Forum "I would respect VIPs if they respect history." Hideo Kato |
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silverking Inner circle 4574 Posts
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Quote:
On 2012-01-01 01:44, lboudreau wrote: Perhaps you're too quick to conclude that the reader didn't misinterpret Ron's original email? This isn't a direct quote of Ron's email (which would obviously be inappropriate to reproduce), it's an opinion formed by the recipient after reading Ron's email. Perhaps the recipient's rendering of the email is influenced by their (obviously) already formed opinion on the matter? |
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| The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » Books, Pamphlets & Lecture Notes » » NEW Persi Diaconis book! Magical Mathematics: The Mathematical Ideas that Animate Great Magic Tricks (2 Likes) | ||||||||||
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Posted: Nov 5, 2011 02:39 pm 
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