In a previous report, 1839 was the year when photographic technology changed from arcane art to science. That year, when the daguerreotype pension bill was debated in the French parliament, physicist and member of parlia- ment Arago was the first to unravel the technical history of photography. He reported that Daguerre’s invention was solid and could be expected to be useful in the fields of art and science. About 40 years later, during the dry plate era, Austrian photographic chemist Professor Eder claimed that the German medical scientist Schulze was the “first in- ventor” of photography, which means “writing with light.” In response, a descendant of Wedgwood in England argued at an academic conference that Wedgwood was the“first photographer” who attempted to photograph with silver chloride paper and camera obscura. In France, on the other hand, Niépce, who had taught Daguerre about Heliogra- phy, had been repeatedly claimed to be the “true inventor”. In this history of photography, we will review the contri- butions of three pioneers of the esoteric age of photography, based on the records of their recommenders.
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