By Michael Mark Woolfson
World Scientific
In this book, the author discusses the scientific nature of light and colours, how we see them and how we use them in a variety of applications. Colours are the way that our vision system and – ultimately – our brain translate the different wavelengths of a part of the light spectrum. Other living things are sensitive in different ways to light and not all of them can see colours.
After presenting the science behind colours and our vision, the book discusses the use that mankind has made of colours. Ever since the time that humans lived in caves, we have used pigments to make graffiti on walls, which evolved into paintings and, lately, graphic art. Here, as is the case when designing decorations and dyes for clothing, the colours are not natural but man-made.
In the chapters that follow, the author reviews three technologies integrated in our everyday life that emerged as black-and-white and evolved into colour by way of photography, cinematography and television. The final part of the book is dedicated to describing various forms of light displays, mostly used for entertainment purposes, and to the application of colours as a code in many contexts – including road safety, hospital emergencies and industry.
Readers attracted by this mixture of science, art and culture will find the book easily readable.
