X-Nico

4 unusual facts about Brent Berlin


Brent Berlin

In 1968, Berlin, Breedlove and Raven studied the botanical ethnography of the Tzeltal Maya people of Chiapas, Mexico.

His work alongside Paul Kay on the 1969 publication of Basic Color Terms: Their Universality and Evolution built on the ideas of Lazarus Geiger in the field of color terminology research and has been highly influential in anthropology, linguistics and cognitive sciences.

a collaboration between Berlin and Paul Kay, they used around 100 different languages to see how many basic color terms for each language are universal.

Maya ICBG bioprospecting controversy

The Maya ICBG bioprospecting controversy took place in 1999–2000, when the International Cooperative Biodiversity Group led by Ethnobiologist Dr. Brent Berlin was accused of being engaged in unethical forms of bioprospecting (biopiracy), by several NGOs and indigenous organizations.


Paul Kay

He is best known for his work with anthropologist Brent Berlin on colour: Basic Color Terms: Their Universality and Evolution (1969) ISBN 1-57586-162-3.


see also