HELMHOLTZ, HERMANN von. - FOUNDING THE MODERN THEORY OF COLOUR.

Ueber Hrn. Brewster's neue Analyse des Sonnenlichts.

Leipzig, Johann Ambrosius Barth, 1852. Without wrappers as issued in "Annalen der Physik und Chemie. Hrsg.von Poggendorff", Dritte Reihe Bd. 26, Achtes Stück.(= Heft No. 8 of 1852). (The entire issue (No. 8) offered). Titlepage to vol. 26. Pp. 501-600. Helmholtz's paper: pp. 501-523. Clean and fine.

First appearance of this founding paper in the modern theory of colour, in which Helmholtz proved the surprising fact that there are only two among the colours of the spectrum, yellow and indigo-blue, which together yields pure white, that is, are complementary to each other, whereas their combination had always been supposed to produce green.

"Helmholtz turned to the intricate problems of color vision in 1852 with an attack on Sir David Brewster's new theory of light. Brewster had maintained the objective reality of three primary colors by supposing, in opposition to Newton, that there exist three distinct kinds of light, each of which excites in the eye one of the sensations red, yellow, or blue. Helmholtz regarded the theory as still another confusion of physical stimulus and subjective responce....He also revived Young's theory of color visoin...only to refute it. He had discovered that spectral colors, when mixed, always yield a duller color of less-than-spectral saturation. Therefore the whole idea that all colors may be obtained from mixtures of three primary colors must be incorrect, he concluded, for the spectral colorss, at least, can never be obtained in their full saturation by mixing any three of their number....Although Helmholtz dismissed Young's theory in 1852, by 1858 he had changed his mind and become its formost advocate. In order to save Ypoung's theory....Helmholtz asumed that Young's physiological primaries are not spectral colors att all, but colors of far greater-than-spectral saturation..."(DSB VI, pp. 246-247). Garrison & Morton 1508.

Order-nr.: 43564