Description:

Two basic facts about the color blue: one, blue was the first man-made pigment -- the first pigment ever engineered. Blue pigments can't be readily extracted from the natural environment, so artisans across the millennia have had to use their innovative abilities to manufacture synthetic blue pigments.  And two - the word for blue didn't come into existence until after this material was made by man.

 Starting with the rise of civilization to present day, Marc has been tracing how there have been different solutions for producing this omnipresent color throughout history. The natural blue we see in abundance in our sky and water is a physical phenomenon having to do with light scattering instead of it being a tangible color we can wrap our hands around. Come on out and hear how thousands of years ago, early man harnessed his environment to artificially produce this color that forms a vital part of our material culture today.