Author:Philip Ball
Colour in art - as in life - is both inspiring and uplifting, but where does it come from? How have artists found new hues, and how have these influenced their work? Beginning with the ancients - when just a handful of pigments made up the artist's palette - and charting the discoveries and developments that have led to the many splendoured rainbow of modern paints, Bright Earth brings the story of colour spectacularly alive. Packed with anecdotes about lucky accidents and hapless misfortunes in the quests for new colours, it provides an entertaining and fascinating new perspective on the science of art.
Brilliant...in every sense. Ball's book is the volume that has been missing from my library
—— GuardianBrings the mysterious subject of colour wonderfully alive. Quite literally an eye-opener
—— EconomistA succinct and elegantly structured new survey of Western painting. Ball pitches his learning just right between academic history and a highly readable series of anecdotes and biographical sketches
—— Daily MailFull of fascinating vignettes. Philip Ball writes engagingly on complicated topics
—— Sunday TelegraphScattered with attractive particles, sparkles with redolent names... A solid, well-researched compendium of information
—— TLSA fascinatingly different account of the history of art
—— Scotland on SundayA mine of information...a fascinating book about art and science that is packed with anecdotes
—— Contemporary PhysicsBright Earth proves that many of the world's greatest artists owe a great debt to the questing colourmen behind them
—— Artists & IllustratorsA delightful book
—— Sally Morris , Daily MailThis book may be exactly what's needed to increase science literacy for readers of all ages
—— Publishers WeeklyThis book is primarily aimed at teenagers, but plenty of adults will get a kick out of it too...McKean's drawings bring the text to life brilliantly ... Dawkins writes convincingly about everything from chemistry to statistics
—— Independent on SundayDawkins uses a simple, brilliant technique highly appealing to young and old
—— The Washington PostFew scientists manage to reach a huge popular audience. Even among them Richard Dawkins is distinctive for the clarity and elegance of his prose. The Magic of Reality... will be appreciated by inquisitive children while illuminating much for the adult general reader.
—— The TimesThis is not a book about the end of the world but about an imagined beginning ...The results of this huge thought-experiment are both fascinating and surprising. Fascinating for what they tell us about the impermanence of the works of man, and surprising for the simple reason that it soon becomes clear that our world would carry on regardless, indifferent to our demise
—— Daily MailWeisman's gripping fantasy will make most readers hope that at least some of us can stick around long enough to see how it all turns out
—— New York TimesEngrossing
—— New York MagazineAn idea that is so lateral and clever, so powerfully evocative and masterfully executed that the only appropriate response is fervent envy
—— New StatesmanA wonderful idea ... a hugely enjoyable and thought-provoking book
—— ScotsmanFascinating, absorbing
—— Good Book GuideA quick, absorbing read - a summer beach book with brains
—— BloombergIf you can stomach only one end-of-the world-as-we-know it story this summer, none is more audacious or interesting than Alan Weisman's The World Without Us
—— The Boston GlobeHis is an extraordinary story laced with tragedy
—— Mail on Sunday[Root's] life story, vividly related here, is crammed with incident and adventure. Curious, creative and fearless, he has diced with death on numerous occasions and been mauled several times in his efforts to capture the daily lives of everything from silver-back gorillas to leopards in the wild on film. A gripping account of a life well lived
—— Good Book Guide