On Vision and Colors are, however, nonessential properties that differ according to the type of light-refracting substance that is used. The top of the upper image is violet. Below the violet is blue. The bottom of the lower image is orange. Above the orange is yellow. In this way, along with the white disk and the black background, four prismatic colors appear: violet, blue, yellow, and orange. This is in disagreement with Newton's claim that there are seven prismatic colors. As the upper image overlaps black, it is seen as violet. Where it overlaps white, it is seen as blue. As the lower image
Visible spectrum used the word "spectrum" ("Spektrum") to designate a ghostly optical afterimage, as did Schopenhauer in "On Vision and Colors". Goethe argued that the continuous spectrum was a compound phenomenon. Where Newton narrowed the beam of light to isolate the phenomenon, Goethe observed that a wider aperture produces not a spectrum but rather reddish-yellow and blue-cyan edges with white between them. The spectrum appears only when these edges are close enough to overlap. In the early 19th century, the concept of the visible spectrum became more definite, as light outside the visible range was discovered and characterized by William Herschel (infrared)