October 31, 2024
2 minimum read
100 Colors of the Universe Offers a Wonderful Tour of Science
Scientific photo book explores the colors we can see, and even the ‘forbidden’ colors we can’t see
A simulation of Vantablack in half of a cicada.
From Tyler Thrasher; A universe of 100 colors, By Tyler Thrasher and Terry Mudge (Sasquatch Books, 2024)
Humans are lucky to live on a planet with abundant radiation orbiting a star that illuminates the world around it with reflected wavelengths of light. These wavelengths (some of which we experience as colors) have long warned us of danger and prompted us to carefully examine objects we encounter.
In the new photo book, 100 colors universescience enthusiasts Tyler Thrasher and Terry Mudge take readers on a tour of colors across scientific disciplines, from things most people never see in their daily lives (black color, the brain’s dopamine precursor). (e.g., a lack of dopamine precursors can cause color changes) leading to Parkinson’s disease), and ubiquitous backgrounds (for example, the green porcelain that gives blackboards their color). For example, the dull color commonly used to paint rental apartments is sometimes referred to as “landlord white.” Some things are even more profound. For example, if humans existed, peachy orange would have been the first visible color in the universe.
“This is a story about light and all the creative paths it takes to get to your eyeballs,” says Madge, who is the curator of a science subscription box called Matter. and there is a path can’t do it For example, parts of the book detail views that the human visual system cannot naturally perceive, such as “forbidden” colors obtained by processing red and green wavelengths simultaneously.
About supporting science journalism
If you enjoyed this article, please consider supporting our award-winning journalism. Currently subscribing. By subscribing, you help ensure future generations of influential stories about the discoveries and ideas that shape the world today.
Above is a simulation of Vantablack. Vantablack is a paint containing tiny carbon nanotubes that reflects 99.6% of the light that hits it, rendering 3D objects into indistinct blobs. The paint was invented by materials scientists, but was licensed exclusively to certain artists, making it more commonly “banned.” One reason for this is that the book’s author had to digitally edit the cicadas depicted here to demonstrate the effect.
In art and science, “the goal of both is to observe and tell us something about the world around us,” says Thrasher, who describes himself as a “mad scientist artist.” And, “I think when you combine the two, when you start bringing creative expression to science, you get closer to what many people call alchemy.”
