Theophrastus and Recent Scholarship

Visual perception of colourful petals reminds us of classical fragments

“…waves of length 400 to 450 nm are violet, 450 to 480 blue, 480 to 560 green, 560 to 590 nm yellow, 590 to 620 nm orange and 620 to 800 mm red. So pervasive is this doctrine in contemporary life that the existence of other explanations of colour is considered a matter for history of science 11,14,15 . In the ongoing development of colour theory over centuries, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) rejuvenated classical, philosophical ideas on colour 16 .…”

“…1b 3 ) and the surface relief is shown in Figure 1b 4 . According to Theophrastus crimson comes from white, red and black 10 ; for thus it makes an appearance delightful to the senses, while its brilliance and lustre testify to the presence of white 13,15 . Aristotle proposed purple as the strongest colour-energy after light itself, while warmth is associated with red 27 .…”