杏吧原创

Behind the Crystal Ball (Boxtree, 拢20, ISBN 0 7522 0549 8)鈥攅ven the title of Anthony Aveni鈥檚 book is puzzling. It is a comprehensive history of magic right up to the present day, charting the gradual divorce of the occult from science and the reasons for the split. Interesting enough; but it鈥檚 difficult to pin down Aveni鈥檚 thesis. A pertinent remark comes near to defining it: 鈥溾�� my goal was to demonstrate that deep down science and magic are perhaps more alike than we might care to admit.鈥� The 鈥減erhaps鈥� is significant. Aveni is a master of equivocation.