＊一本结合艺术史丶医疗科学丶美国和欧洲史的学术探讨之书。
 
本书将不同的色彩科学在整个历史上所产生的文化影响的方式编织一起。色彩的概念是如何进入类意识的？在现代科学的社会中，什麽是观看色彩的正确方式？而谁又是决定方式的人？ 在本书中，作者深入研究美国色彩科学史，追溯其错综复杂的渊源，并探究色彩对美国世纪交换的工业转型影响范围。
 
对於遭受严重的经济丶文化和人口危机的国家来说，色彩的标准化已成为一种社会重塑的手段——一种将美国人口塑造成更适应新兴工业秩序需求的方式，并利用稳定色彩来着为焦虑的社会和政治关系带来秩序，进一步创造理想的结构。这一本远不止於视觉文化的饶富趣味历史书，向读者展现了色彩的控制和规范是如何形塑现代美国的社会轮廓，并重新定义了我们看待世界的方式。
 

书评
“An intriguing look at the history of and current way we conceive of color. . . . This book does a beautiful job of weaving together the way the different color sciences have made a cultural impact throughout history.” - Science
 
"In a kaleidoscopic tour through American laboratories, artists' studios, corporations, and game boards of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Rossi puts color at the very center of US life. Colors wavered, shifted, and set each other off; stabilizing colors meant bringing order to anxious social and political relations. Lighting up a landscape of previously hidden connections, this eloquent, original book unfurls a stunning series of interlocking tales of science and sensation in the making of modern life." - John Tresch, The Warburg Institute, University of London
 
"Are colors creations of the mind or something out there, in the surrounding world? If their perception arises from the interaction between the mind and the world, does that mean that different minds perceive colors differently? The Republic of Color shows how modern American efforts to resolve such conundrums not only engaged profound philosophical questions about the nature of reality and human knowledge but were also constantly shadowed by sociopolitical concerns about the possibility of a shared community. This brilliant history is quite simply the most stimulating I have read in recent years." - Shigehisa Kuriyama, Harvard University
 
  
关於作者
Michael Rossi是芝加哥大学科学与医学史的助理教授。