| Abstract: | Today we cannot imagine our lives without a variety of colours. Every colour we see, consume, enjoy, apply and use wherever
we need has a dye associated with it. More than 90% of the thousands of dyes used now are synthetic. A little more than 150
years ago a handful of dyes of only natural origin were available. In 1856 the era of synthetic dyes was ushered in by a spirited
young chemist, William Henry Perkin, when he was trying to synthesize quinine, but obtained a coloured substance instead.
It was a much desired colour and therefore became an instant hit. The following is an account of Perkin’s life as a chemist
and an industrialist par excellence. |
