This book has been rewritten, updated, and enlarged, describing the basic principles of color vision and colorimetry. The history of color and the main methods used to measure color and their associated color systems are described. Also, the human eye and its color detectors are explained with some detail. The book has been written with students in an introductory color course in mind. More specialized color techniques, mainly computational color management, are treated only superficially, but there are several excellent books that can be read after studying this book, for example, the books Computational Color Technology and Color Technology for Electronic Imaging Devices, by H. R. Kang, published by SPIE Press.

Chapter 1 introduces the reader to the main concepts and definitions and the nature of color, including a definition of the main radiometric and photometric units related to color. Chapter 2 describes the main natural and artificial light sources used in colorimetry and the illuminants used as standards in colorimetry. In Chapter 3 the human eye is briefly described, with more emphasis on the retinal detectors-primarily, the role of cones in color vision. In Chapter 4 the history and fundamentals of the trichromatic theory in the r, g, b system are described. In Chapter 5 the CIE x, y, z color specification system is introduced with all of the basic mathematical tools for colorimetry. The mathematical procedure used to transform the r, g, b system to the CIE x, y, z system, a procedure that is not commonly available in most books, is described with some detail. This chapter contains many tables with colorimetric data and standards that can be of use to those working in color-measuring systems. Chapter 6 introduces the readers to the uniform color systems, describing their main differences and limitations. Special emphasis is given to the CIE L* U* V* and CIE L* A* B* uniform color systems, which are now frequently used. In Chapter 7 the principles and mechanisms to produce and predict the color of colorant or pigment mixtures and their use are described, and finally, in Chapter 8 some of the most common methods and instruments used for color measurements are described with their calibration procedures. At the end of each chapter and at the end of the book, a good number of references are given for the benefit of those students who desire to deepen their knowledge of this interesting field.

The author is grateful to Marissa Vásquez Martínez for her efficient secretarial help, Zacarias Malacara for his advice, and especially to my doctoral student Armando Gómez for his help with some technical discussions and proof reading of the manuscript.