Since antiquity, people have searched for a way to understand the colors we see--what they are, how many there are, and how they can be systematically identified and arranged in some kind of order. How to order colors is not merely a philosophical question, it also has many practical applications in art, design, and commerce. Our intense interest in color and its myriad practical applications have led people throughout history to develop many systems to characterize and order it. The number of color order systems developed throughout history is unknown but ranges in the hundreds. Many are no longer used, but continue to be of historical interest. Despite wrong turns and slow progress, our understanding of color and its order has improved steadily. Although full understanding continues to elude us, it seems clear that it will ultimately come from research in neurobiology, perception and consciousness. Color Ordered is a comprehensive, in-depth compendium of over 170 systems, dating from antiquity to the present. In it, Rolf Kuehni and Andreas Schwarz present a history and categorization of color systems, describe each one using original figures and schematic drawings, and provide a broad review of the underlying theory. Included are a brief overview of color vision and a synthesis of the various systems. This volume is a unique and valuable resource for researchers in color vision, and visual perception, as well as for neuroscientists, art historians, artists, and designers.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the historical development of color science, told through the stories of more than 90 of the most prominent figures in the field and their contributions. The text comprises an extensive set of biographical essays about pioneering scientists in the field of color science, describing their most significant achievements and explaining how their findings influenced the general understanding of color. Grouped by historical period, each part is prefaced with a short introduction that sets the essays into context and helps the reader appreciate the background and the importance of the contributions made. Beginning with classical Greece and the works of Plato and Aristotle, the book goes on in the second part to describe the advances made by Islamic scholars such as Ibn al-Haytham between the 10th and 15th centuries. The third part covers contributions from Roger Bacon and Theodoric of Freiberg in the same period. Part four includes discussions on color formation and visual perception for a time period from about the 16th to the 18th centuries encompassing the Age of Enlightenment. This part addresses the works of nineteen pioneers including Descartes, Boyle, Newton, Goethe, Lambert, Purkynje, Runge, Dalton, Young and Chevreul. The final part is the largest section of the book and covers the most recent discoveries and contributions from pioneers born after 1800 and includes over 60 essays. Among the pioneers listed in this chapter are Nobel laureates, vision scientists including Helmholtz, and Hering, and many other notable color pioneers such as Munsell and Land. This part of the book also includes essays on contemporary figures in color science including Adams, Boynton, Crawford, Hardy, MacAdam, Ostwald and Wyszecki and reviews their contributions to this dynamic field. A useful reference for color scientists, science historians, artists and others, Pioneers of Color Science offers a fascinating insight into the development of color science and the nature of scientific advancement.