Illuminature RGB Book
Get Iluminature here, along with other RGB books:
From Amazon: BUY NOW: Illuminature Animals
Also: Illuminature Dinosaurs, Illuminature World Atlas, and Illuminature Anatomy
From eBay: BUY NOW: Illuminature Book
Illuminature Book: three books in one- the supplied absorptive gel filters transmit only a narrow range of frequencies (red, green, and blue here) and the inks on the page that do not match with the color range of each gel are revealed as dark images. This book explores 10 ecosystems from around the planet, and on every page red reveals animals seen during the day, blue shows nocturnal creatures, and green unveils the diversity of plant life. The art design is part of the RGB project by the CARNOVSKY design team (Silvia Quintanilla and Francesco Rugi) with informative biology written by Rachel Williams.
Photicular Dinosaur Book
From Kainen and Wollard:
From Amazon: BUY NOW Dinosaur: Photicular Book
Click this link for the other amazing books in the series.
Photicular Dinosaur Book: the latest in the photicular series- this time with scientific reconstructions of ancient beasts! This amazing book of 8 astonishing moving and looping lenticular images is the creation of photographer/artist/inventor Dan Kainen where the moving images use Kainen's patented process where a specially processed image slides under a thin film of lenticular lenses. Kainen has teamed up this time with Kathy Willard who puts each image into context incorporating fun paleontology facts appropriate for kids yet informative to all.
360° Book
Available here- four versions of 360° Books to choose from:
Amazon: BUY NOW 360° Books
360° Book: Earth and Moon by Yosuke Oono- whimsical art for the science and sci-fi enthusiast. Love the UFO abducting the cow!
Photicular 3D Animation Book
Kainen and Kaufmann now offer four books in this series- all amazing!
From Amazon: BUY NOW Photicular Animation Books
Photicular 3D Animation Book: the foremost in lenticular image technology produces these looping motion images that look like videos on a computer screen. This amazing book of 8 astonishing moving images is the creation of photographer/artist/inventor Dan Kainen where the moving images use Kainen's patented process where a specially processed image slides under a thin film of lenticular lenses. Writer Carol Kaufmann puts each image into context incorporating fun science facts appropriate for kids yet informative to all.
Lenticular Postcard Prop: Back to the Future
This lenticular post card is one of many fun items included in this book:
From Amazon: BUY NOW: Back to the Future: The Ultimate Visual History
Lenticular McFlys Prop: A wonderful implementation of the classic animation effect that uses an array of thin cylindrical lenses over interlaced multiple images. This post card simulates the prop from the famous film, and comes with the 35th anniversary edition of “Back to the Future: The Ultimate Visual History” book which includes lots of other small items from the trilogy. Fun physics and a fascinating read about how this amazing movie series was made.
Bottle, Hoop, and Nail Trick
The hoop used is just the inner circle of an embroidery hoop. Get one for a couple dollars here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW Wooden Hoop
The science writer Martin Gardner has published many books of physics tricks and simple but amazing science experiments like the one in this video. Highly recommended.
From Amazon: BUY NOW Martin Gardner's Science Magic: Tricks and Puzzles
Bottle, Hoop, and Nail Trick: with some practice, a snap of the wrist removes the hoop and the nail falls straight into the bottle. Newton's 1st Law as seen in slow motion- a mass at rest tends to stay at rest. (Best to watch with sound/audio) Balancing the nail on the hoop ensures the nail is directly over the top of the bottle. The hoop is removed so quickly that it does not interact significantly with the sufficiently massive nail, and thus the nail remains over the mouth of the bottle so that gravity pulls it in. G4G Week repost- a favorite from Martin Gardner’s collections of physics tricks.
Kaleidograph
Four versions to choose from!
From Amazon: BUY NOW Kaleidograph
Kaleidograph: hand held manipulable mathematical art. Stack, rotate, and flip two or more of these 12 double sided die cut cards into billions of possible arrangements! (30 shown here) A toy that integrates the math of combinatorics with the beauty of symmetry.
Tumble Rings
I made this set of tumble rings from reading Martin Gardner's description in his famous mathematical recreations books- highly recommended:
From Amazon: BUY NOW Knots and Borromean Rings by Martin GardnerDescribes the Tumble Rings
From Amazon: BUY NOW Books on recreational math and puzzles by Martin Gardner Lots of physics and math toys in these pages!
Tumble Rings: the links in this chain are connected in a special way such that the top ring appears to tumble to the bottom- a compelling illusion!
Magic Sake Cup
These are hard to find--
also beware that some versions of this cup (Dragonware) contain images many would consider "adult content"!
I recommend making one with a shot glass and a marble as described in this fun collection of DIY science experiments by Martin Gardner:
From Amazon: BUY NOW Science Fun by Martin Gardner
Magic Sake Cup: when this antique ceramic sakasuki is filled with clear liquid an image of a bride is revealed! The spherical glass lens at the bottom has a very long focal length in air, but when immersed in water the glass marble has the same focal length as a magnifying glass, unveiling the portrait. Refraction depends heavily on the refractive index of the two transparent mediums.
Pentominoes
Get this set here:
From Etsy: BUY NOW Hardwood Pentominoes
Many versions available here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW Pentominoes
The book by mathematician Solomon Golomb that started the polyonomo recreational math craze:
From Amazon: BUY NOW: Polyominoes
Pentominoes: The 12 possible arrangements of five identical squares joined edge to edge. Since 5x12=60, the pentominoes can tile a 6 x 10 rectangle with no gaps (2339 ways to do this- yet even finding one solution is a challenge). I love this beautiful set from artist/woodworker Ron Moore where each pentomino is made from a different kind of hard wood.
Flip Book Physics
Out of print but sometimes available here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW: Flip Book Fan
Flip Book Physics: silly but clever, when one riffles through this flip book it does indeed create enough breeze to extinguish a candle, fitting to an animation of a fan- if a pun were a book! The psychophysics of flip books- when the image flash rate is above the flicker fusion frequency (approximately 16Hz) we perceive fluid motion- the basis for all movies and TV.
Mirror Anamorphosis
This image by István Orosz is available as a poster and as a puzzle:
From Amazon: BUY NOW Mysterious Island Puzzle
From MathArtFun.com: BUY NOW Mysterious Island Poster
For those who want to see the math behind this art, here is an initial paper on the topic published in 2000 in the American Journal of Physics: Anamorphic Images by Hunt et al.
Many books are available (with mirror cylinders) from Amazon: Anamorphic Art in Books
Mirror Anamorphosis: this famous print by artist István Orosz has a hidden anamorphic image revealed by placing a mirrored cylinder over the depiction of the moon in the image. The work visualizes a scene from the book “The Mysterious Island” by the science-fiction author Jules Verne- whose portrait emerges in the reflection on the cylinder. The math describing this mapping is quite complex and was given in detail in a physics journal in 2000, but before that Martin Gardner described the math in 1975. Repost for this week’s theme as I head to G4G!
RGB Ocean
Get this and other RGB puzzles here:
From Amazon: BUY NOW: RGB Puzzles
Click here for similar RGB books: Illuminature Book
From Amazon: BUY NOW: Illuminature Animals
Also: Illuminature Dinosaurs, Illuminature World Atlas, and Illuminature Anatomy
RGB Ocean: A collage of sea creatures fills this artwork by Carnovsky design studio which is actually comprised of three layers of images which can be seen separately by viewing through color filters- blue, green, and red. This image came with a quality 500 piece jigsaw puzzle of the same design and the three sets of color filter eyewear. Another great demonstration of the physics and psychophysics of color vision.
Praesentia: Felipe Pantone
Learn more about this limited edition book here:
Praesentia: Felipe Pantone
His art is sometimes found at auction:
From eBay: Search Now: Felipe Pantone
Praesentia: a monograph showcasing the evolution of artist Felipe Pantone in 308 pages of images and descriptive text. Pantone is an innovator of neo op art and dynamic art forms involving a unique saturated color pallet, and his book, with its precision designed acrylic slipcover, is itself a piece of fine kinetic art. The exterior of this hardcover exhibits Mioré effects which create waves of shimmer and motion as the book moves within the case, or as the angle of illumination is altered as seen here under rotation. I purchased this book last Friday from the gift shop of the @controlgallery during the opening reception of Kosmos, his first ever show in Los Angeles.