Re: a link to some interesting illusions

[John Clement <clement@HAL-PC.ORG>]

The article "The Life and Times of Roy G. Biv" had some interesting
information, and also some very bad pedagogy.  Young students (and probably
most students) should not be given lectures about science.  Instead they
should be shown the spectrum and then asked to come up with their own
classification of colors in it.  Actually my HS used Roy GBV and sensibly
omitted indigo.  The remaining colors would seem to be a reasonable guide to
the various shades that tend to be seen and described.  The in between
shades would then tend to be described as combinations of these "primary
shades".

I found the idea that a teacher should be proud of how their students had
memorized some facts distressing, but not surprising.  Elementary school
teachers tend to be either concrete operational or sometimes transitional
thinkers.

A good brief description of color vision with an emphasis on biology can be
found at
http://www.hhmi.org/senses/  The rest of the book is also very good reading.
http://www.hhmi.org/senses/b140.html has a good description of the way in
which the eye-brain system perceives the "true" color of a pigment
independently of illumination.

John M. Clement
Houston, TX


> Yes.  typical observers will note a "smooth" gradation between the named
> colors.
>
> bc
>
> p.s. I "checked out" LW's ref. and find the convergence of
> Newton's physics
> and theology most interesting.  More to the point:  I didn't notice the
> author's naming a new color except purpil, which is not a spectral color.
>
> Larry Woolf wrote:
>
> > Roy G. Biv are spectral colors but be sure to mention that they
> are just 7
> > distinct colors in the rainbow, not all the colors in the rainbow
> > See: http://www.opticsforkids.com/resources/Color_7.pdf
> > and
> > "What are "all the colors of the rainbow"?," Raymond L. Lee Jr., Applied
> > Optics, Volume 30, Number 24 . 20 August 1991, pp. 3401-3407.
> >
> > and other color references at:
> > http://www.opticsforkids.com/article/articles_by_topic.cfm?topic=1
> >
> > and other optics references at:
> > http://www.opticsforkids.com/article/article.cfm
> >
> > Larry Woolf;General Atomics;San Diego CA
> > 92121;Ph:858-526-8575;FAX:858-526-8568; www.ga.com; www.sci-ed-ga.org
> >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Bernard Cleyet
> > > Sent: Tuesday, February 04, 2003 1:14 PM
> > > Subject: Re: a link to some interesting illusions
> >
> > > > No one has mentioned Roy G. Biv as spectral definition?