Pigment of the Imagination chronicles the story of phytochrome, the bright-blue photoreversible pigment through which plants constantly monitor the quality and presence of light. The book begins with work that led to the discovery of phytochrome and ends with the latest findings in gene regulation and expression. The phytochrome story provides a paradigm for the process of scientific discovery. This book should thus be of interest to scientists who work on phytochrome and related subjects in plant science, as well as to all scientists and science historians interested in how a scientific research field begins, develops, and matures.Documents the science and history of phytochrome research over an 80 year spanCombines information from scientific literature, archival documents, and in-person inteviewsDescribes in scholarly and readable style an elegant example of biological discoveryAccessible to researchers and students in all areas of science and history of science

This updated 2nd edition features a revised chapter. True Colors is about artists who create color from natural materials and about the historical importance and environmental sustainability of this practice. Deep conversations with 26 artisans from every part of the globe reveal their wisdom, traditions, and know-how—and suggest that we ignore what they know at our peril. Traditional approaches to making color offer sustainable options to a fashion system badly in need of them and memorable cultural narratives to a world hungry for beauty and spirituality. True Colors provides an immersive visual experience and an inspiring travelogue of personal stories and practical information from artists who are leaving their mark on the world.

The Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies at the Harvard Art Museums possesses over 2500 of the world¿s rarest pigments. Visually and anthropologically excavating the extraordinary collection,Atelier Editions¿ monograph examines the contained artefacts¿ providence, composition, symbology and application. Whilst simultaneously exploringthe larger field of chromatics, utilising a variety of theoretical frameworks to interpret the collection anew. An introduction to the monograph is authored by Straus Center Director, Dr. Narayan Khandekar.

'Extraordinary. An intellectual feast as well as a visual one' Edmund de Waal, author of The Hare with Amber Eyes The world comes to us in colour. But colour lives as much in our imaginations as it does in our surroundings, as this scintillating book reveals. Each chapter immerses the reader in a single colour, drawing together stories from the histories of art and humanity to illuminate the meanings it has been given over the eras and around the globe. Showing how artists, scientists, writers, philosophers, explorers and inventors have both shaped and been shaped by these wonderfully myriad meanings, James Fox reveals how, through colour, we can better understand their cultures, as well as our own. Each colour offers a fresh perspective on a different epoch, and together they form a vivid, exhilarating history of the world. 'We have projected our hopes, anxieties and obsessions onto colour for thousands of years,' Fox writes. 'The history of colour, therefore, is also a history of humanity.'

From Egyptian wall paintings to the Venetian Renaissance, impressionism to digital images, Philip Ball tells the fascinating story of how art, chemistry, and technology have interacted throughout the ages to render the gorgeous hues we admire on our walls and in our museums. Finalist for the 2002 National Book Critics Circle Award.

An experimental approach to the study and teaching of color is comprised of exercises in seeing color action and feeling color relatedness before arriving at color theory.

The history of paint and color in interior design, spanning a period of three centuries Why were primary colors popular in postwar kitchens? Why did the Art Deco era prefer clean lines and pastel shades? This comprehensive illustrated history of the use of color and paint in interior decoration answers these questions and many more. Drawing on his huge specialist archive, historian and paint expert Patrick Baty traces the evolution of pigments and paint colors together with color systems and standards, and he examines their impact on the color palettes used in interiors from the 1650s to the 1960s. He charts the creation in paint of the common and expensive colors made from traditional earth pigments between 1650 and 1799. He then explores the emergence of color systems and standards and their influence on paint colors together with the effect of industrialized production on the texture and durability of paints. Finally, Baty turns his attention to twentieth-century color standards. Woven throughout the authoritative and revealing text are specially commissioned photographs of pages from rare color reference books. Reproductions of interiors from home decor books, dating from every era, are included throughout, highlighting the distinctive color trends and styles of painting particular to each period.