Forgotten Magic Manual Contains "Da Vinci Code"

After lying in the vaults of an Italian university for some 500 years, a book on the magic arts that was written by Leonardo da Vinci's best friend was recently translated into English.

Tricks in the magic text explain how to write a sentence on the petals of a rose, wash your hands in molten lead and make an egg walk across a table . “De viribus quantitatis” (On the Powers of Numbers), was penned by Luca Pacioli, a Franciscan monk who shared lodgings with da Vinci and was written between 1496 and 1508. The text is said to contain the first reference to card tricks as well as guidance on how to juggle, eat fire and make coins dance.

Click here to read the entire article.