I finding this section quite interesting for many reasons but would like to share and discuss one with you guys. In the The Science of Magic section people seem to ask and discuss in three ways.

1) They are looking for science base principles that can be past of or shown as magic. (Memory wire bending into the 4 of clubs as example)

2) Just wired fun stuff (look at this funny wire bend it heat it straight type thing)

3) Or my favourite is pass of science as magic then explain (pass of binary magic as a mind reading, LNP, physic, feat then explain how binary works)

There are no right or wrong answers to this, I would be interested in what people get from this is one of the 3 listed or something else. I personally get all 3 out of it.

I hope this make sense and starts of a bit of discussion.

I don't think Steve Brooks had high expectations for "the science of magic", and I think he is happy with what has happened here.

I would say that mathematical card tricks should be part of this discussion as well.

I think, we are still trying to find the right balance. The word science is certainly directing the posts into one direction.

Yes Andy you are right. Lay a card trick on us buddie.

The 'science" word should not be off putting as it is a very important component. Let's see from C&B work many of the ball vanish we use depend on the phenomena of retention of vision. Misdirection works when we employ the concept of visual image retention and engage the mind to a logical conclusion that may or may not happen. An example would be a levitation where a ring passes around the subject and although we do pass the ring we misdirect the eye into seeing what is not there by our actions and timing. The Slydini concept of using the mind against itself in making logical conclusions by having the mind follow the the magis movement, thereby directing (guiding) the thought process into the conclusion we want.
This way of thinking is very much what Conan Doyle wrote in the Sign of Four. "When everything else has been excluded, whatever remainss however improbable must be the truth."

MHO this is what the science of magic is about.

John