Mary Virginia Orna
is Professor of Chemistry at the College of New Rochelle, New Rochelle, NY (mvorna@cnr.edu), although her professional history includes service in government, not-for-profit institutions and industry. She received a B.S. in Chemistry from Chestnut Hill College and Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from Fordham University. She has lectured and published widely in the areas of color chemistry and archaeological chemistry and, following a sabbatical leave at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, she has maintained a research relationship with art historians in the area of pigment content of medieval manuscripts. Among her many professional activities, she has presented plenary lectures and named lectureships on at least a dozen different occasions. She is a tour speaker on the roster of the American Chemical Society and has been an invited lecturer to every part of the United States and many countries in Europe, the Middle East, and the South Pacific. Her many publications have appeared in the Journal of Chemical Education, Color Research and Application, Studies in Conservation, Analytical Chemistry, Microchemical Journal, Journal of Biological Chemistry, American Chemical Society monographs, and various other journals. She has also authored numerous book chapters and encyclopedia articles, three books and co-edited eight others.

Introduction: Colors, Natural and Synthetic, in the Ancient World.- Discovery of the Physics of Color.- The Chemical Causes of Color.- Colorant Usage from Antiquity to the Perkin Era.- Beyond Perkin.- Major Analytical Techniques Based on Color: Volumetric Analysis; Chromatography; Spectroscopy; Color Measurement.- Color on the Biological and Biochemical Front.- Finale: Color in Foods, Photochemistry, Photoluminescence, Pharmaceuticals, Fireworks, Fun and the Future.

In this brief, Mary Virginia Orna details the history of color from the chemical point of view. Beginning with the first recorded uses of color and ending in the development of our modern chemical industry, this rich, yet concise exposition shows us how color pervades every aspect of our lives. Our consciousness, our perceptions, our useful appliances and tools, our playthings, our entertainment, our health, and our diagnostic apparatus - all involve color and are based in no small part on chemistry.