Thursday, March 17, 2011

Top 10 books on color

Peter Forbes is a UK-based science writer. The Gecko’s Foot (2006) explored the new world of bio-inspiration: engineering solutions taken from nature. He writes for many magazines and newspapers including The Guardian, The Independent, The Times and Scientific American.

His latest book is Dazzled and Deceived: Mimicry and Camouflage, which Brian Clegg called "a fascinating exploration of the use of visual trickery to disguise the nature of objects both in the living world and in the military…Overall a wonderful topic that really hasn’t been given enough coverage, especially given its importance in understanding the mechanisms of evolution better, and an excellent book."

For the Guardian, Forbes named his top ten books on color.

One title on the list:
Jazz by Henri Matisse

In Matisse's classic paper cut-outs, published in 1947 in book form as stencil prints, the pure colours, biomorphic forms and insouciant renderings of Les Bêtes de la Mer and Les Milles et Une Nuits are as close as one can get to pure visual joy. Matisse is a great colourist throughout his work but in Jazz, with its flat, even toned colours, Matisse the draftsman and Matisse the colourist find their perfect harmony.
Read about another book on the list.

The Page 99 Test: Peter Forbes' Dazzled and Deceived.

--Marshal Zeringue