While we're on the "attack Marilyn" strand, I thought I would add my
favorite:
About 2 years ago she was asked, "Why does science consider the primary
colors to be red, blue, and green, while art teaches us that the primary
colors are red, blue, and yellow"
Her reply, "Your science teacher is referring to light; your art teacher is
referring to colorant (like paint). Primary colors are any three colors
that, when mixed together in varying proportions, will make virtually all
other colors. In the case of light, red, blue, and green wavelengths can be
mixed to produce nearly any color of light. With colorants, red, blue, and
yellow (which selectively reflect and absorb wavelengths) comprise the most
widely known primary group... A lesser known primary group of colorants used
in printing is composed of magenta (purplish-red), cyan (bluish-green), and
yellow."
Her reply should have been that the primary colors for printing or painting
are cyan, magenta, and yellow, and that art teachers and art books are
wrong.
I wrote her a letter, including a copy of the reference below - but received
no response.
See The Physics Teacher (cover and article) volume 37, April 1999, p. 204.
Also see the Colorful Life PowerPoint presentations at: http://www.sci-ed-ga.org/modules/
Dr. Lawrence D. Woolf; General Atomics; 3550 General Atomics Court, San
Diego, CA 92121; Phone:858-455-4475; FAX:858-455-4268