Book excerpt: The study of colour attracts researchers from a wide range of disciplines from both the sciences and the arts. Along with its companion volume, Progress in Colour Studies 1: Language and Culture, this book offers a fascinating insight into current issues and research into colour. Most of the papers originated in a 2004 conference entitled ‘Progress in Colour Studies’ held in the University of Glasgow, U.K. Some additional invited papers are included from investigators exploring new and exciting avenues of colour research. The contributions to both books represent reviews of state-of-the-art colour research in various disciplines, and some new research findings are reported. This volume, principally psychological in content, focuses on the development of colour perception and colour language, from infancy into adulthood, across a diverse range of cultures, including English, Himba, Chinese, and Mexican, and on the intriguing yet perplexing condition of synaesthesia, thus bridging research from the physiology, psychology and anthropology of colour.