The color wheel was invented by Sir Isaac Newton in 1666. Newton created the first color wheel as a result of his experiments with light and prisms, where he used a triangular prism to split a beam of white light into a spectrum of hues (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet). He arranged these colors into a circular form, establishing the basis for the modern color wheel concept. Newton's work on the color wheel and his theories on light and color were published in his book "Opticks" in 1704. His color wheel was influential in understanding the harmonious relationships between colors and laid the foundation for future developments in color theory.