This second edition of The Science of Color focuses on the principles and observations that are foundations of modern color science. Written for a general scientific audience, the book broadly covers essential topics in the interdisciplinary field of color, drawing from physics, physiology and psychology. The jacket of the original edition of the book described it as "the definitive book on color, for scientists, artists, manufacturers and students." This edition also aims for a broad audience.

The book begins by tracing scientific thinking about color since the seventeenth century. This historical perspective provides an introduction to the fundamental questions in color science, by following advances as well as misconceptions over more than 300 years.