> “Intensity: Also known as saturation or chromaticity”
is not the way those terms are used today by people trying to use precise terminology. Intensity is reserved for counts of photons, chromaticity encompasses two dimensions, and as you describe it what you’re really talking about is chroma, not saturation.
All the stuff about triadic and tetradic and alternate complementary schemes, while it seems to be popular among some “color theorists” (whatever that means) is pseudoscientific creation of jargon divorced from any evidence-based underlying structure.
I must acknowledge your superior knowledge in this space (and upvote!) and perhaps excuse my effort back then by saying that the publishers were after something fairly accessible - perhaps a shortcut to creating something attractive despite not being a designer first and foremost. If I were introduced to colour/design via the link you provided, I would've run away screaming. :)
When I design, the colour choices just come naturally. I've never consciously made decisions based on the schemes listed (though they often fit those), so it's one of those things that's difficult to describe in a single chapter within a 10mm thick book, or even at all.
> “At the heart of basic color theory lie the three Primary colors: red, yellow, and blue,”
comes straight out of the 19th century (or the 17th) – for coverage of primary colors see http://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/color6.html – and this:
> “Intensity: Also known as saturation or chromaticity”
is not the way those terms are used today by people trying to use precise terminology. Intensity is reserved for counts of photons, chromaticity encompasses two dimensions, and as you describe it what you’re really talking about is chroma, not saturation.
All the stuff about triadic and tetradic and alternate complementary schemes, while it seems to be popular among some “color theorists” (whatever that means) is pseudoscientific creation of jargon divorced from any evidence-based underlying structure.
Edit: definitely take a look at the Maureen Stone SIGGRAPH course notes for something pretty accessible and good, http://graphics.stanford.edu/courses/cs448b-02-spring/04cdro...