Horace Benedict de Saussure was a 17th century Swiss botanist, geologist, and physicist who centered his experiments and observations in the Swiss alps. In addition to a great source of geologic study, the Alps allowed Saussure to make basic atmospheric observations at various altitudes. He also invented several scientific instruments including the diaphonameter; tool to measure the transparency of air, and the cyanometer; a tool for measuring the blueness of the sky. While the data collected by such an instrument would have been largely arbitrary, the gesture is profound. Saussure, having climbed many of the highest peaks in the Alps gazed even higher out into unknown intangible blueness.

Inspired by his gesture, and by his inventions I developed several methods to measure the blueness of the sky and of the ambient daylight around us. Using several tools such as a computerized light sensor, and a camera I have been working on an ongoing study of blue.