Teller, writing for The Smithsonian Magazine, on scientists’ interest in magic:

I’m all for helping science. But after I share what I know, my neuroscientist friends thank me by showing me eye-tracking and MRI equipment, and promising that someday such machinery will help make me a better magician.

I have my doubts. Neuroscientists are novices at deception. Magicians have done controlled testing in human perception for thousands of years.

Teller talks more about science and magic in his recent interview on Talk of the Nation. In it he mentions three books¹ for learning magic:

• Royal Road to Card Magic, Jean Hugard. (“Almost a programmed course,” Teller calls it.)
• Modern Coin Magic, J.B. Bobo.
• Amateur Magician’s Handbook, Henry Hay.

The last one is what I learned from as a teenager.