Colour: art & science

Abstract

Three hundred years ago Isaac Newton showed that white light is composed of all the colours of the spectrum - yet does this provide us with insight into our own personal experience of colour sensation? To approach such a conundrum, this volume gathers the combined knowledge of physics, biology, history and art. It provides an exploration of colour, from the diverse perspectives of experts in eight different fields of study. Their essays take us on a journey through both the sciences and the arts, to give a full and rewarding view of colour.

Contents

The history of colour in art / David Bomford -- Colour for the painter / Bridget Riley -- Light and colour / Malcolm Longair -- Colour mechanisms of the eye / Denis Baylor -- Seeing colour / John Mollon -- Colour in nature / Peter Parks -- Colour and culture / John Gage -- Colour in language / John Lyons.