Published Description: "In 1856 eighteen-year-old English chemist William Perkin accidentally discovered a way to mass-produce color. In a "witty, erudite, and entertaining" (Esquire) style, Simon Garfield explains how the experimental mishap that produced an odd shade of purple revolutionized fashion, as well as industrial applications of chemistry research. Occasionally honored in certain colleges and chemistry clubs, Perkin until now has been a forgotten man."
This is a wonderful book for those interested in the history of colorants. In the context of printing, William Perkin’s accidental discovery of the artificial dye, Mauve, revolutionized the colorant industry and made possible the development of the chromatic monopigments essential to process and spot color printing today. This book also tells an interesting story about the attitudes of different European nations toward the application of scientific research to the advancement of industry.