Seeing Colour

A thought-provoking read for color enthusiasts and experts alike, and an accessible route to a new way of seeing color. Features a Foreword by renowned physicist Arthur Zajonc.

Color is everywhere. From blue skies to red sunsets, from the first flowers in spring to the blazing leaves of fall. But what is the nature of color? Scientific books present a variety of mechanical explanations but this approach leaves color as a whole unexplained. In the nineteenth century, the German poet and scientist Johann Wolfgang von Goethe investigated a wide range of color phenomena and discovered the underlying principles that govern color itself.

This lavishly illustrated book brings Goethe's pioneering research up to date. Through descriptions of simple observations and ingenious experiments, the reader will discover a series of color phenomena that includes afterimages, colored shadows, color mixing, and prismatic and polarization colors.

Nora Lobe studied painting in Dortmund, Germany and in Dornach, Switzerland before developing and building touring exhibitions on Goethe's theory of color. She is currently a freelance artist and also works at the Swiss Science Centre Technorama in Zurich, Switzerland.

Matthias Rang studied physics in Freiburg, Germany and Berlin before becoming a visiting researcher in the field of nano-optics at the University of Washington, Seattle, USA. He received a PhD from the University of Wuppertal, Germany and carries out research on Goethe's theory of color in relation to physical optics at the Goetheanum, Switzerland, where he currently co-leads the Natural Science Section.

Troy Vine completed a PhD in particle physics at University College London with research undertaken at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Illinois, USA. He is currently doing a PhD in philosophy at the Humboldt University of Berlin with a thesis focussing on methodology and ontology in the color investigations of Descartes, Newton, Goethe and Wittgenstein. Vine is currently an Associate Researcher at The Field Centre, near Stroud, UK.