The Science of Color in Non-Technical Terms

Color. It's all around us. It brightens our life. Artists create beauty with it. But what is it and how do we define it?

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Scientists and artists have been wondering about and studying color for thousands of years. From Plato's creation poem to Sir Isaac Newton's experiments refracting light through a prism to modern day scientific tools for measuring color, the study of color goes on.

Without getting into too much technical detail, we have attempted to somewhat comprehensively cover the topic of color. We hope the person interested in color, who doesn't have a strong scientific background, can learn about and appreciate this vast subject.

The amazing thing is that we have only three types of color receptors (cones) in our eyes. With just these three types, we can see hundreds of different colors and distinguish between two, only slightly different, colors.

Complicating the study of color is the fact that people perceive color differently. This presented a problem when the scientific community was trying to devise a system of mathematically defining color. The problem was solved by the creation of the Standard Observer, that is, a system of defining how the "average" person sees color. Using this information, finally in 1931, the CIE (International Commission on Illumination) was able to devise a mathematical system where we can reference a color and everyone agrees on exactly what color it is.

But it took hundreds of years of scientists and artists arguing and studying color to get to that point. Early color science defined the primary colors (or primitive colors, as they called them), as being light and dark or black and white. From these two "colors," all other colors were somehow created. In the early 18th century, Sir Isaac Newton defined seven primary colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. Later that century, scientists finally settled on three primary colors, but what were they? The debate continued until modern times when we finally understood the difference between additive and subtractive colors. With this understanding, it has become possible to create almost any light source color on a television or computer monitor and any pigment or dye color, as in a color printer or a page in a magazine, by using only three primary colors.

See the bottom of this page for links to different aspects of the science of color.

Definition of Common Color Terms

Confused about color terminology? Here a list of definitions for common color terms.

Brightness

The degree to which a color appears to reflect light.

Chroma

How strong a color appears. A red tomato is high in chroma. Pastel colors are low.

Color Space

An abstract model used as a way of defining color. There are many color models.

Complementary Colors

Two colors which are opposite each other in a color model.

Grayscale

A range of grays, from white to black, showing intensity only and no other color. This is what we commonly think of as "black and white," although that is not technichally correct. A black and white image consists of only the colors black and white.

Hue

The actual color (red, orange, yellow, etc.)

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Lightness

The degree to which colors appear to reflect light.

Luminosity

Brightness of a color.

Primary Colors

A set of three colors from which all other colors can be made.

Saturation

How strong or dominant the hue is.

Shade

A color which has been darkened by adding black.

Spectrum

The full range of colors which are visible when light is dispersed, as it is when passed through a prism.

Tint

A color which has been diluted with white so that it is no longer at maximum saturation.

Tone

How light or dark a color is. (Same as Value.)

Value

How light or dark a color is. (Same as Tone.)

Lots More Color Information

Select a topic of interest to you from the links below and explore the fascinating field of color.

Light Scientists have studied light for thousands of years. Sir Isaac Newton was one of the first optic scientists. He developed the Corpuscular Theory.	Speed of Light Armand Fizeau was the first person to successfully measure the speed of light.
Additive and Subtractive Color Mixing Colored light is additive (absorbs color) while pigment color is subtractive (reflects color). Combining pigment colors creates darker colors, while the opposite is true when light colors are combined.	CIE 1931 Color Space In an effort to find a way to specifically define a color, the CIE Color System was developed.
Colorimetry In an effort to define and measure colors, the science of colorimetry was developed.	Color Space There are many ways to define color which result in a three dimensional diagram called a color space.
Color Temperature The perceived color of an object will change based on the actual, physical temperature of the light source.	How to Make a Spinning Color Top It is easy to construct a simple color top. Try it and experiment with how to make different colors.
Color Terminology Here is a glossary of color terminology which may make it easier to understand color.	History of Color Science Through the centuries, there have been many theories and many misconceptions regarding primary colors and how colors are created.
Metamerism Although a color can be specifically defined mathematically, it can be generated by multiple, different combinations of the three primary colors. This is called metamerism.	Motion After Effect An interesting optical illusion occurs when we stare at moving figures.
Munsell Color System Albert Munsell developed a color system to define color by hue, value and chroma.	TriStimulus Every color can be defined by three values which are the proportions of each of the primary colors used to produce it. These are the tristimulus values.
Refraction The phenomenon of refraction allows light waves to be bent.	Young's Double Slit Experiment Thomas Young conducted experiments with light and concluded that it was a wave.
Light Polarization Light travels in a transverse wave and can polarize in any direction.	The Human Eye The anatomy of the human eye is amazing.
The Retina The light sensitive part of the eye is called the retina.	Color Optical Illusions A discussion of color and optical illusions.