Explore Mysteries of Color --- Discover Why is Color
This site is the home of the Color Curiosity Shop, an educational resource that uses the various phenomena of color to introduce several disciplines of science. This project is essentially complete, but will remain a living resource with updates and corrections.
Please explore the modules by visiting the Contents/Map page. Or just click on a location on the icon/map to the left and be taken to a "random" module.
The hardcopy version of the resource was published in June 2011. An electronic book in PDF format is available free of charge (download PDF). A printed version is also available at the cost of printing (purchase book). I have also added a lower cost "Abridged Edition" that includes all the material, but in only one layout instead of the two in the original book (purchase abridged edition).
The Spanish version of The Color Curiosity Shop, La tienda de las curiosidades sobre el color, was published in hardcopy in Spain through a collaboration of Prof. Manuel Melgosa of the University of Granada. You can read about the presentation of the book in Spain here. The Spanish edition was published by the University of Granada Press in collaboration with Parque de las Ciencias.The Spanish version is available in the U.S.A. through Amazon.com sellers. A differently formatted PDF electronic version the Spanish edition is available free of charge (download PDF).
I gave a presentation on this project at the 2010 IS&T/SID Color Imaging Conference (download proceedings paper).If you are interested in background material on the project, please visit my collection of Miscellaneous Project Information that includes thingslike a brief project overview and slides from an ISCC presentation.
Please submit comments or suggestions using this feedback form.
If you are easily amused, check out the QuickTime movie of the project icon cycling through all 64 modules!
Updated: July 15, 2013
Copyright Notice
Unless otherwise noted all images on this page, all pages linked from it,and in the WhyIsColor hierarchy below this page are
CopyrightŠ 2006-2013 Mark D. Fairchild. All rights reserved.
Photo Credits
The following images are from, or derived from, other sources.
Contents/Map: Code to Make Icon Interactive Provided by Dave Wyble.
Module 1-1 Small: Book cover image derived from source at amazon.com.
Module 3-1 Large: Original scattering images by Seth Ansell for Mark Fairchild.
Module 3-3 Large: Human and eagle skull reproduction inset images from Bone Clones, Inc.
Module 5-3 Small: UV flower image derived from source images at www.naturfotograf.com.
Module 6-4 Small: Nikon D3 image sensor image derived from source images at www.nikon.com.
Module 1-5 Large: Original neon source image by Seth Ansell for Mark Fairchild.
Module 2-6 Small: Original bullfighter image by Tomas Castelazo via Wikimedia Commons.
Module 5-6 Large: Original wedding dress image from weddingdress.myblog.it.
Module 2-7 Large: Earth source image from NASA.
Module 2-7 Small: Galileo's view, "The Earth and Moon" from NASA.
Module 6-7 Small: Inkjet dot image provided by Farhad Abed during Color Reproduction class at RIT.
Module 1-8 Large: IR/Visible Tree, Daniel Schwen via Wikimedia Commons; X-Ray, Lindsaydavidson via WIkimedia Commons; Thermal IR House from NASA (Public Domain).
Module 3-8 Small: Binary fission animation, ZabMilenko via Wikimedia Commons.
Module 5-8 Small: Original brain image from Wikimedia Commons.
Module 6-8 Small: Interlaced video image from Teemu Seppänen via Wikimedia Commons.
