Colour science in Göttingen in the 18 th Century

In the 18 th Century the Georg‐Augusta University in Göttingen became one of the leading scientific centers of Europe. Several eminent physicists, among them Tobias Mayer, Johann Erxleben and Georg‐Christoph Lichtenberg, were interested in color vision and made major contributions to early developments in color science; trichromacy was an idea in circulation at the time. When Thomas Young wrote a doctoral thesis in Göttingen in 1795–96 he became personally acquainted with Lichtenberg, but unfortunately no record exists of their scientific discussions. These early developments in color science are reviewed. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Col Res Appl, 26, S25–S27, 2001