Roy was considered dead long before I heard the news in 2010. He had been my friend for remembering the colors of the spectrum since I was in middle school. After I became a teacher, I introduced him to my students each year. He was a favorite member of the science classroom.
Imagine my surprise when I began product development on theElementary Science Starters and learned that not only was he deceased, somepeople believe he never really existed. This topic came up again while workingon our newest elementary product, the Science Sidekicks. Roy G Biv, a mnemonicfor remembering red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet, can'texist if color physicists don't recognize indigo as a color of the visiblespectrum. If indigo isn't recognized by many optical physicists, then why wasit included in the first place?
Isaac Newton was the first to describe the colors of thespectrum. He realized that when we use a prism to break apart light, we get thevisual spectrum. We know that each color blends with its neighboring color,resulting in a gradual flow, so he could have easily named any number of colors.Apparently Newton decided on the number seven before determining the colors.
But why the number seven? In the 6th century BC, the Greek mathematicianand philosopher Pythagoras applied numbers to things observed in the world. Hedetermined that the seven musical notes had a relationship to mathematicalequations and connected the seven heavenly bodies that were known at the timeto mathematical patterns. His studies grew into a philosophy calledPythagoreanism. The number seven became a magical and mystical number thatconnected mathematics with natural phenomena.
Fast forward to Sir Isaac Newton. It's reported that heinitially divided the spectrum into five colors: red, yellow, green, blue, andpurple. Then he considered the Pythagorean belief that color and music are connected.If there are seven different tonal notes in a musical octave, shouldn't therebe seven colors of the spectrum? Insert orange and indigo and Roy G Biv wasborn.
Modern physics generally accepts a six-color spectrum.Indigo is omitted because few people can differentiate the wavelengths wellenough to see it as a separate color.The six-color spectrum also fits the model of the color wheel, with red,yellow, and blue being primary colors. Orange, green, and violet are secondarycolors and are spaced between the primary colors. Indigo would be considered atertiary color.
Which brings us back to Roy. I'm reluctant to let him rideoff into the indigo-free sunset. What do you think about Roy G Biv, and how areyou teaching the colors of the spectrum?
Subscribe to our blog to receive moreteaching tips and free downloads.
Check outthe Science Sidekicks (grades 3-5), the Science Starters (grades 6-8), BiologyStarters or Chemistry Starters with a FreeTrial! ScienceSidekick Demo Lesson (grades 3-5) ScienceStarter Demo Lesson (grades 6-8)
