Original publication and copyright date: 1978.

Written for architects, interior designers, and color consultants, this ambitious study explores the psychological and physiological effects of color in the man-made environment. Scientific findings and industry-by-industry examples are furnished to help professionals specify colors that will create healthful environments in hospitals, schools, restaurants, and other public facilities.

2013 Reprint of 1950 Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. American writer Faber Birren devoted his life to color and it's effects on human life. After writing around 25 texts on the topic, it would be safe to say his work is considered highly among color experts and psychologists around the world. Birren's work has a strong focus on linking how humans perceive colors to how it makes them react. He writes, "Good smelling colors are pink, lilac, orchid, cool green, aqua blue." Birren explores the work of several physicians, scientists and doctors, mainly the German psychoanalyst and physician Felix Deutsch, whose findings throw important light not only on medical practice with references to color but on the whole psychology of color. Birren states that if a person prefers warmer colors such as hues of red and oranges, they are likely to me more aware of their social environment. He labels these as "warm color dominant subjects." On the other hand, those preferring cooler colous such as blues and greens, are categorized generally as "cold color dominant subjects" and are recognized as finding it challenging to adapt themselves to new environments and situations." By splitting people into separate categories, based on their color preferences, Birren finds himself able to establish a greater understanding of their personalities and characteristics. One experiment Birren explores in his text, courtesy of Kurt Goldstein, involves a subject standing before a black wall with his eyes shut and arms outstretched to touch the wall in front. When the subject is influenced by a warm color such as the color red, his arms deviate away from each other, whereas when under the influence of a cooler colour such as green or blue, even though the reaction is a subtle one, the subject will move his arms closer together. I find this experiment, simple as it is, to be fascinating in highlighting the strong effects colors have on our minds and bodies. As well as distinguishing the differences in peoples' character through his use of color psychology, Birren also touches on the effects colors can have on the mentally ill. This section was the most interesting and involved a series of complex experiments such as discovering which neurological disorders were linked to which colors. Courtesy of the work by Hans Huber, it was proven that patients suffering manic tendencies preferred the color red, a symbol of blood and anger. Hysterical patients were more sensitive to green, "perhaps as an escape," the color linked to paranoid subjects was found to be brown and schizophrenics are sensitive to yellow. Birren states that persons troubled with "nervous (neurotic) and mental (psychotic) disturbances are greatly affected by color and are responsive to it." Therefore color becomes much more significant to them, and affects them in a completely different way than those without such neurological disturbances. Chapter 12 "Neurotics and Psychotics" is the most compelling in the text as it relates to my dissertation topic. After struggling to find texts specific to my research subject, this text and its contents came as a welcomed discovery and I will be referring to Birren's work throughout my further research.

Colors are an element of both the natural and the man-made environments. They convey messages of all kinds and perform a wide variety of functions, informing, organizing, warning. But they also serve an aesthetic purpose, affecting the statement, effect, and acceptance of objects and spaces. While people’s reactions to color vary widely, in design questions it is still possible to establish generally valid color concepts to match the expectations of the various groups of users. This book offers a guide based on a wide range of scientific findings and may be consulted as an authoritative reference by the architecture student and the professional alike. The three editors, Dr. B. Rodeck, Prof. G. Meerwein, and F. H. Mahnke have taught for many years at the Salzburger Seminare für Farbe und Umwelt der IACC.

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 'A mind-expanding tour of the world without leaving your paintbox. Every colour has a story, and here are some of the most alluring, alarming, and thought-provoking. Very hard painting the hallway magnolia after this inspiring primer.' Simon Garfield The Secret Lives of Colour tells the unusual stories of the 75 most fascinating shades, dyes and hues. From blonde to ginger, the brown that changed the way battles were fought to the white that protected against the plague, Picasso's blue period to the charcoal on the cave walls at Lascaux, acid yellow to kelly green, and from scarlet women to imperial purple, these surprising stories run like a bright thread throughout history. In this book Kassia St Clair has turned her lifelong obsession with colours and where they come from (whether Van Gogh's chrome yellow sunflowers or punk's fluorescent pink) into a unique study of human civilisation. Across fashion and politics, art and war, The Secret Lives of Colour tell the vivid story of our culture.

The brain is the most complex computational device we know, consisting of highly interacting and redundant networks of areas, supporting specific brain functions. The rules by which these areas organize themselves to perform specific computations have only now started to be uncovered. Advances in non-invasive neuroimaging technologies have revolutionized our understanding of the functional anatomy of cortical circuits in health and disease states, which is the focus of this book. The first section of this book focuses on methodological issues, such as combining functional MRI technology with other brain imaging modalities. The second section examines the application of brain neuroimaging to understand cognitive, visual, auditory, motor and decision-making networks, as well as neurological diseases. The use of non-invasive neuroimaging technologies will continue to stimulate an exponential growth in understanding basic brain processes, largely as a result of sustained advances in neuroimaging methods and applications.