I was recently given this book as a birthday present. It covers the topic of Riemann's hypothesis, a theory created by Bernhard Riemann, that was later destroyed upon his death...
I have not yet read the book, however last night I flicked through it (like I do when I get most books)...I found myself on the page of Further Reading...My eyes suddenly jumped to

Aldous, D., and Diaconis, P., "longest increasing Subsequences from patience sorting to the baik-deift-johansson theorem"

I went on to search the name Persi Diaconis in the Index, and was guided to page 271.

'As a child in New York, Diaconis would spend all his time skipping school to hang out in magic shops. His sleight of hand caught the eye of one of America's greatest magicians, Dai Vernon. Diacois recalls that Vernon then aged sixty-eight, offered him the chance to come on the road as his assistant: 'I'm off to Delaware tomorrow, do you want to come along?' The fourteen-year-old Diaconis packed a bag and left without telling his parents.

The book spends the next two pages talking about Diaconis and Vernon, and how gambling statistics and probabilities led his interest in statistics.

I thought that the following quote of Diaconis would be specifically of interest for us Mathemagicians!

"The way I do mathematics is very similar to magic. In both subjects you have a problem you're trying to solve with constraints. In mathematics, it's the limitations of a reasoned argument with the tools you have available, and with magic it's to use your toools and sleight of hand to bring about a certain effect without the audience knowing what you're doing. The intellectual process of solving problems in the two areas is almost the same. One difference in magic and mathematics is the competition. The competition in mathematics is a lot stiffer than in magic.

Thought you might be interested (it was a complete surprise to me as I was unaware the Diaconis was a mathematician).
Owen

He's professor of mathematics at Standford University and is an expert in some fields of probability.

He is also responsible for 'seven shuffles is random.'
Starter link here:
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~chance/teachin......Mann.pdf

And I also have read somewhere that he and Ricky Jay used to practice as kids doing 8 table faros in under a minute. This has to be one of my favourite anecdotes and intimidating skills to aspire to. Glad to see his name popping up here. Can you tell us a little more about your book?

M