"This slender work is packed with an enormous amount of information related to the science of colour. The best part of the material is the array of pictures and diagrams, many of which are in colour, that help to complement the text. The book has something for the physicist, chemist, biologist, engineer, and lay reader. Summing up: Highly recommended."

CHOICE Connect

"The text is nicely written in a colloquial and essayistic style, without any mathematical treatment and without references, however with solid historical and scientific foundation. This book can be recommended without constraint to any interested reader, in particular since it does not require any special previous knowledge, but gives an easily accessible account of the topic and keeps exactly to the subjects the title suggests."

Contemporary Physics

Colour makes our lives more interesting -- how dull it would be in a black-and-white world! It pleases us aesthetically, entertains us and is useful to us. This unique book aims to describe the scientific nature of colour and light, and how we see it, in an accessible and easily understandable style. The evolution of the eye, science of colour and technical visual systems are all broken down into readable chapters, with clear images and illustrations provided for reference. The book then goes on to discuss the innate tendency of humankind to produce artistic works as conceived, realised and augmented through the use of colour. Focussing on broad forms of artistic entertainment -- painting with pigments and dyes, colour and light in photography and cinematography, light displays and colour in television -- this book then delivers a comprehensive review of what colour means and has meant in the creative arts.