We see and produce an apparently endless abundance of colours. Philo of Alexandria was the first to notice this when, in the first century, he marvelled at the colours around the neck of a dove as it moved in the light of the sun. It is only natural, therefore, that throughout history we have endeavoured to invent a system for colours. We shall be investigating some of these attempts, and in so doing we shall see that there is no clear and final, nor even objective, solution to the problem of arranging the colours of our world into a distinct order. The history of colour systems remains as open as the history of human beings themselves.
Colours are ideas.
As we progress, moving from the classical world towards the present day, we shall wish to acquaint ourselves with their origin, both in the world about us and within our own minds. Red and green light, for example, will together form a different colour than red and green watercolours. After observing the two resulting patches of light and their colours, he then held the blue fragment between the wall and the yellow fragment. When Aristotle saw the green component in addition to the original yellow and blue, he came to the conclusion that green will be formed when yellow light and blue light are mixed together. For a while we may tend to agree with such an addition.