BAR HARBOR — Color has been discussed, examined, and investigated for centuries, says James Baird, emeritus professor of chemistry at Brown University. He will add to the discussion by talking about the history, use, physics and chemistry of color at College of the Atlantic’s Human Ecology Forum on Tuesday, May 1 with the talk “Color in Art, Physics and Chemistry” at 4 p.m. in the college’s McCormick Lecture Hall.

“This is to be a series of very brief discussions investigating pigments, and therefore color, used by artists and the rest of us, from a historical and a scientific perspective,” said Dr. Baird. Because digital representations of color are the future, he will also touch on that.

“The intention is to learn about pigments from their use in art and explained by physics and chemistry,” says Dr. Baird. “A motive is to understand the scientific method as well as some basic elements of physics and chemistry needed to understand the use of color in art. We want to uncover the relationships between art and science if there is one.” He also plans to explore some of the practical, theoretical, historic, and creative aspects of both color and ideas about color.

He continued, “This topic has been talked about for 1,000 years, so it is presumptuous to think we can add anything new. Perhaps our combination of topics will at least be entertaining.”

Dr. Baird has a Ph.D. from Rice University, and a Bachelor of Science from Stanford University. He has been a research fellow at Harvard University and a research scientist at Chevron Research. His primary field has been atomic and molecular physics and chemistry, or chemical physics.

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