Secret Language of Color: Science, Nature, History, Culture, Beauty of Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, & Violet

The perfect coffee table book, this one will be a gift for several people on my Xmas list. Heavy on the natural sciences but with a nod to the social sciences at every chance, the authors cover much territory. The visuals, as you might expect, are often stunning. More than your average coffee table book, it has enough text to keep people coming back. It's hard to imagine a person not finding at least something of interest here.You can page straight to the chapter of your favorite color and save the others for later. In addition to colors, titles of other chapters include: Universe, Earth, Plants, Animals, Humans, and Physics & Chemistry. What is in the chapters that are not specific to only 1 color? In the Humans chapter, for example, topics include: different ways of looking at skin color, color trends throughout history, and how color has been used in symbols. If you are getting the idea that *history* is a recurring theme in this book, then you would be correct.Unless the person you are buying for has a strong aversion to science, I can't see many being offended by the material within (as opposed to about a thousand books I can think of that would not be appropriate as gifts).

Lovely book with all sorts of information for people like myself who have difficulty understanding the relationship between color as light and color as the property of an object. I think I learned more in 20 pages than I did from years of art lessons. Especially about the way color mixes. No wonder I was so frustrated! The level of detail can be a little intimidating to a complete newbie like myself, but with some patience I have started to understand the basic principles.This should be a standard text for all budding artists. Or just folk like myself who wondered why a yellow filter did certain things for a black and white photograph. Or even someone wondering why that fabric they chose looked so awful with CFL bulbs when it was great with tungsten.Truly an eye opening work. And a nice thing to leave on the coffee table.

A beautiful book. A whimsical visual experience. A truly exciting way to enjoy learning about a subject that is literally quilted into the fabric of our everyday lives. A sturdy shell binds together silky pages drenched in bright vivid images that explore the complex vast topic of colors. A well researched product that highlights fundamental concepts nicely laid out in an easy to comprehend text.

I made this the required textbook for my Color Theory and Practice college course I teach because it uses actual science to explain how colors actually do function and can be applied (the opposite of the romanticized professions about color wheels and warm vs. cold colors [there is no such things as a cold color, after all colors are different wavelengths of light]). By using science, it also is able to explain how colors are seen in nature, which should be considered by artists. It also explains how certain colors became "valuable" either financially or in their usage in artwork.I will admit I didn't cover every example it had and allowed students to determine how much they accepted, but students were amazed how simple and applicable the book was. They also agreed it used common sense and science they had heard about in science classes to explain color in ways that Art professors just did not want to acknowledge. This book and Josef Albers Interactions of Color blew their minds away about how they had been taught previously about color.

EVERYONE loves this book! It's beautiful, well designed, interesting and playful.I'm a nanny and I've entertained the kids (5 and 8) with it for hours. I initially borrowed it from the library and ended up renewing it twice :)I lugged it around in my tote bag for over a month. I brought it to soccer practice once and several of the mom's took it and spent a good 30 minutes looking through it together. Another day on the playground it got pulled out, and a parent and her 3 children all got involved in looking through it.The kids asked me for the book again when we had a long drive recently, and were very disappointed I didn't have it with me.I bought two: one copy for my coffee table and the other for a Christmas gift (and am considering ordering a few more for my gift drawer). It's truly a great one-size-fits-all gift for all ages.

I am a huge fan of Arielle Eckstut since buying her Essential Guide to Getting your Book Published. The Secret language of Color is a different type of book, but just as fascinating as it delves into the Physics, chemistry, psychology, optical illusions, art and arcana; whether the Pope's cardinals where name after the birds or vice versa (turns out the bird was named after those princes of the church.) Also covers such wonky topics as Lillian Gish in a Scarlet Letter, Milerapa's Blue bio-luminescent fish in an accessible and engaging manner. I know it will serve as a stocking stuffer for Christmas and dreidel substitute for Hanukkah.Bravo!

Fun source of information with dynamic graphic design

I was hoping to use this as a coffee table book, however it arrived damaged. The content is fun and engaging, the pages are thick, bright, and glossy. The cover is delicate and easily damaged. I will be keeping the book despite the damage for the fun content and because with how easily the cover is damaged my kids would probably damage it again anyway if I ordered another.