The Moon: Considered as a Planet, a World, and a Satellite

James Nasmyth
Author James Carpenter British
Publisher Scribner and Welford American

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Nasmyth’s simulated views of the moon supported his specious claim that the craggy pockmarked lunar surface was the result of volcanic activity. Rather than declaring Nasmyth’s methodology unscientific, however, his contemporaries lauded the visual effects and found his arguments convincing. This reception suggests that the photographic medium itself imbued the images with a sense of veracity that lent them scientific authority.

The Moon: Considered as a Planet, a World, and a Satellite, James Nasmyth (British, Edinburgh, Scotland 1808–1890 London), Woodburytypes

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An Ideal Sketch of "Pico," in The Moon: Considered as a Planet, a World, and a Satellite