From kelly green to millennial pink, our world is graced with a richness of colors, but our human-made hues haven't always matched nature's kaleidoscopic array. That may be changing, posits the author of the PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award finalist Proof: The Science of Booze, who shows us our ancestors mashing charcoal in caves, Silk Road merchants competing for the best ceramics, and textile artists cracking the mystery of how colors mix, before exploring the high-stakes corporate espionage and the digital revolution that are rewriting the rules of color forever.

"Breezy, accessible…. With its vast range of perspectives, there's something in this investigation for everyone."—Publishers Weekly