Abstract :
BEFORE WE GO any further with this column readers might be encouraged to dismiss the advice of author Terry Pratchett: ???A ???Thaum??? is the basic unit of magical strength. It has been universally established as the amount of magic needed to create one small white pigeon or three normal-sized billiard balls.??? As engineers E&T readers will certainly know that billiard balls and those of other cue sports cannot be magicked out of thin air ??? they occur as the result of a highly technical manufacturing process.
