title: Basic Color Terms: Their Universality and Evolution
author:  Brent Berlin 
description: The work reported in this monograph was begun in the winter of 1967 in a graduate seminar at Berkeley. Much has been discovered since 1969, the date of original publication, regarding the psychophysical and neurophysical determinants of universal, cross-linguistic constraints on the shape of basic color lexicons.
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  ![Cover: A Natural History of Color, by Rob DeSalle and Hans
  Bachor](../Images/9781643134437.jpg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![A Natural History of Color by Rob DeSalle and Hans Bachor, Pegasus
  Books](../Images/title.jpg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  _To RD’s children, Mimi, Soso, and Bo_
  
  
  _and all of the kids in the World._
  
  
  _May they enjoy the colorful world they were born into_
  
  
  _for all of their lives._
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Prologue
  
  
  Color influences everything. Our universe is made up of elements that have
  diverse color; hence the large bodies in the universe have color. Color
  abounds on our planet in nonliving things. The next time you see a rainbow, or
  get a good look at the northern lights, or experience a beautiful sunset,
  remember that these are colors from nonliving parts of the Earth. Organisms
  evolve complex coloration patterns to warn off predators, or they use subtle
  colors with respect to background to hide in plain sight. Humans deal with
  color in a very different way than other organisms