The video discusses the concept of the color blue and its development throughout human history. It begins by highlighting that for most of human history, blue was not a part of the traditional rainbow colors, and instead, ancient humans used words that described brightness or quality to describe colors. The video then explores how blue was perceived in ancient cultures, including the Greeks, who did not have a specific word for blue, and the Egyptians, who developed a synthetic pigment called "Egyptian blue."
The video also touches on the discovery of the pigment ultramarine, which was obtained from the semi-precious stone lapis lazuli, and was highly valued and expensive. The development of Prussian blue in the 18th century revolutionized the use of blue in art, architecture, and everyday life. The video concludes by highlighting how the perception of blue has changed over time, from being a rare and valuable color to becoming a ubiquitous part of modern life.
The narrator also explores how the concept of blue has affected human perception, referencing Norwegian Painter Edvard Munch's synesthesia, which led him to see emotions as colors. The video ends with the narrator reflecting on how the invention of blue has allowed humans to advance from simply observing their surroundings to finally seeing their world in a new light.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. In ancient times, clothing was dyed blue with indigo.
2. The Indus Valley Harappan and the Han Dynasty in China used indigo to dye clothes blue.
3. Blue eyes have only existed for about 7,000 years and were traced to a common ancestor in Spain.
4. Today, people with blue eyes only represent about 8% of the population.
5. Plants have no true blue pigment.
6. Less than 10% of flowers have a blue-ish color due to the natural modification of a red pigment called anthocyanin.
7. Blue animals are not common in nature.
8. The Egyptians imported the rare blue stone lapis lazuli from thousands of miles away 6,000 years ago.
9. In ancient languages, green and blue were often referred to with the same word.
10. In Russian, light blue and dark blue are known as goluboy and siniy respectively.
11. A 2006 study found that Russian speakers were faster at discriminating between two separate colors when shown blues that fell into their linguistic category.
12. Black, white, and red were the first recognized colors in virtually every civilization.
13. The Greeks had a word "glaukós" that could mean light blue, but it was more about describing the feeling of a color.
14. The Hebrew "tekhelét" described a colorant that came from a mollusk that could be used to dye garments blue or violet.
15. The Egyptians had a word for their blue pigment: "irtiu", the first synthetic pigment ever created.
16. The Latin lexicon had a gap for blue, and the most common modern words for blue derive from German and Arabic.
17. In the 13th century, woad began being produced on a large scale for dying clothes, influencing the culture's need for a word to describe the color blue.
18. The word "Azure" comes from the Arabic "lazaward", which was used to describe cobalt oxide blue glass and ceramics as well as lapis lazuli.
19. Ultramarine was the first truly vibrant blue pigment in the world and was extremely rare and expensive.
20. A pigment maker named Diesbach accidentally invented an affordable, long-lasting true blue in the 18th century.
21. The color blue was named Prussian Blue after its use as a dye for Prussian army uniforms.
22. Prussian Blue reinvigorated Japanese woodblock paintings and influenced manga and Japanese animation.
23. English astronomer Sir John Herschel used Prussian blue to invent blueprints in 1842.
24. The working class became known as "blue collar" due to the popularity of blue uniforms.
25. The explosive popularity of rugged denim jeans brought blue to everyone.
26. Sir Isaac Newton divided the visible spectrum into five colors: red, yellow, green, blue, and violet in the 17th century.
27. Newton later added orange and indigo to the spectrum because he wanted the number of colors to align with the ancient Greek belief in the power of the number seven.
28. The invention of blue allowed humans to advance from simply observing their surroundings to finally seeing their world.