James Nasmyth and James Carpenter

'Hand and Apple'.
Woodburytype, around 1873. From
'The Moon: Considered as a planet,
a world, and a satellite' (London, 1874).
[Library reference: Phot.med.8]

The use of photography in scientific documentation had its origins in some of the earliest photographs taken during the 'era of experimentation' in the 1830s and 1840s.

As the century progressed, and as photography developed, a new generation of scientists began to see new potential for the medium.

Moon mountain ranges

The book 'The Moon: Considered as a planet, a world, and a satellite' by the Scottish scientists James Carpenter (1840-1899) and James Nasmyth (1808-1890) was published to demonstrate the origin of certain mountain ranges on the moon through erosion and age.

In this image Nasmyth made natural yet startling comparisons of the moon to the back of a hand and a shrivelled apple.

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