Optical Illusions [antikvár]

Introduction Optical illusions, besides being more fun than a barrel of monkeys, are for the most part research tools. Who says science can't be fun? Researchers have been using optical illusions to poke and prod at the inner workings of human perception for hundreds of years. By studying optical illusions we can learn more about how and why we see tiie way we do. The ability to create and look at optical illusions is uniquely human. Why we love them, is a mystery; that we do, and treasure sharing them, is a given. Popular culture has embraced optical illusions for as long as they have existed - certainly since the Greeks built the first fluted columns. For every optical illusion science can discover or invent, an artisan will happily contribute countless variations. The term optical illusion has been broadened considerably. Rainbows and mermaids are optical illusions; and so is that funny face hidden in your wallpaper pattern. Anything remotely ambiguous or quirky can be an illusion. Much of art that looks three-dimensional but is really flat is an illusion. A flat picture of a three-dimensional optical illusion is an illusion within an Illusion. A line of telephone poles receding into the distance is an illusion; the poles don't really get smaller - ifs a distortion illusion caused by distance in three-dimensions. To live in three-dimensional space is to be constantly bombarded by common everyday optical illusions.