The Moon Illusion

Book excerpt: This unique volume attempts to answer one of mankind's oldest puzzles -- why the moon appears to be larger and closer on the horizon than when it is high in the sky. Over the centuries, many viable solutions have been proposed for this psychological phenomenon. The Moon Illusion presents papers by major theorists striving to explain the illusion and providing commentaries on the works of others. Research on the moon illusion has been scattered throughout journals in many disciplines including philosophy, physiology, physics, and psychology. As the first publication to present a comprehensive treatment of the problem, this book is of vital interest to professionals whose major concern is visual perception, experimental psychology, or the neurosciences. Of additional interest to those whose focus is physics or astronomy.