Color Names

In the first chapter the author spent much effort showing his irritation with the lack of a scientific approach to describing color. I would absolutely agree that defined terms that have specific meanings are necessary in the vocabulary of color, and the article articulated the differences between hue, value, and chroma in ways that made sense to me. The scientific definitions of hue, value, and chroma were especially illuminating. The definition of hue as resulting from wavelengths hitting the retina is clear, as was value as the light of a color defined by the amplitude of the wave. It was also helpful to have value further related to tint or (sometimes incorrectly) shade.  However, the discussions around chroma were especially useful as I was having difficulty understanding its meaning, particularly in association with the chromatic scales. Chroma is the strength of color and can be thought of as the purity of one wavelength.  When intermingled with other wavelengths it becomes less pure. Somehow, this made way more sense to me than adding in grays or black for the chromatic scales, or the complimentary color as we did with the quilt exercise.  But now I look at my quilt and understand that in the middle squares the chroma of the parent colors is weakened.  

The color sphere also made sense to me, but I did not follow the equation i.e., every color can be recognized, named, matched, imitated and written by its hue, value, and chroma, where Red 5/9 means [value (5)/chroma (9)] = vermilion, because it seems like the resulting pigment could be somewhat variable depending on the originating hue (i.e., a cool versus a warm red). However, it is certainly important that everyone in the color conversation is speaking the same language. I work in a part of the medical profession where a specific vocabulary is used to communicate information, and sometimes individuals ignorant of the nuances will make editorial changes in written documents that completely change the meaning and intent. This can lead to unfortunate consequences.  I can see where that could also easily happen in the fashion industry in relationship to color.