Who invented the first camera and entered the first draft of Qing history?

Inventor and creator of the first camera in China, whose deeds were compiled into the Qing Draft.

Zou Qi Bo

(18 19 ~ 1869 from Nanhai, Guangdong), a physicist in Qing dynasty, was good at astronomy, mathematics, optics and geography. He made his own camera and took photos. He wrote "Photographic Instruments" and "Geshubu", which were devoted to discussing photography skills and theoretical issues. He independently made the first camera in China, only four years later than in the west; He also participated in surveying and mapping the first map of China with longitude and latitude lines in China, and mapped the maps of Guangdong, Nanhai County, Guangzhou, Nanhai divisions (equivalent to towns) and even Xunfengzhou (Jinshazhou is located in Dao Jiang).

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Written by/Reporter Wang Yuehua

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Lingnan scholars in late Qing dynasty

Dance in the Kingdom of Science

Today, their parents will be very happy if their children win the prize in the international physics competition. If we push back the time by 200 years, the situation will be completely different. It's hard to imagine a child in China sitting under a tree with his cheeks propped up, thinking hard about why the apple fell to the ground. Even if there are really smart and curious children who want to do a few difficult arithmetic problems quietly, they are likely to be taken by their parents with brooms: instead of memorizing a few eight-part essays and taking exams for fame and honor, isn't it asking for trouble to read these "casual essays" that few people can understand?

Take Zeng Guofan, a famous minister in the late Qing Dynasty. His youngest son, Zeng Ji Hong, loved mathematics. He didn't give any encouragement at all, but he didn't suppress it either He has become a rare enlightened father in the eyes of historians now. It can be seen that the status of mathematicians at that time was too low to enter the eyes of the mainstream people.

Looking through local chronicles, legends of fox spirits and snake monsters appear from time to time, but the stories of scientists almost disappear. At that time, it was not that there were no "scientists", but that this group was so invisible that few people understood the value of their work.

Morning meeting teenagers

Explore problems and stay awake.

It is in this barren land that Zou Qi Bo made his scientific legend. 18 19, Zou was born in a teacher's family in Biyong, Nanhai. His father and grandfather were well-educated "math lovers", which gave him a rare enlightenment education in mathematics and physics at that time. The precocious teenager showed an extremely rare spirit of inquiry. In the words of contemporary scholars and close friends, Zou's "system of reading and knowing famous things must be investigated day and night." . Because of his love of inquiry, he began to study mathematics tirelessly after discovering the arithmetic mistakes in the ancient Book of Yi Shu, and the common shadow of the lake and the tower plunged him into the study of optics. He had just turned 17 years old at that time.

If such a precocious teenager who is full of "why" has to learn by rote and become famous in the examination room, it will be "tireless". Fortunately, no one forced Zou to take the imperial examination. His highest title is just a trainee (scholar). According to the textual research of scholars such as Ni, it was precisely because Dai Xu, a Guangdong scholar at that time, saw that Zou was proficient in exegetics that he was promoted to official school and never set foot in the imperial examination hall again.

Become a generalist

Knowledge spans several fields.

Comparing Zou, a scholar wearing a robe and a melon seed hat in the late Qing Dynasty, to a lonely dancer in the kingdom of science sounds out of tune, but it is also in line with the facts. Because in the background that natural science is almost completely ignored by intellectuals, he has made great achievements in mathematics, optics, mechanics, astronomy, geography and other fields.

According to scholars Li Di and Bai Shangshu's textual research, in mathematics, Zou Zeng wrote a book "Take Power Agility", which deeply introduced the knowledge of taking power, taking root and logarithm, and he also designed his own logarithmic table and lettering board. In mechanics, he found a method to solve all kinds of irregular center of mass; In optics, he independently developed the first camera in China, and his research was almost synchronized with that in Europe; Astronomically, he calculated the operation of the five planets from 186 1 for several years, and also drew two huge "equatorial north and south star maps"; Geographically, he took the lead in drawing a map of the whole country by latitude and longitude, and designated a meridian passing through Beijing as the prime meridian. To tell the truth, any modern scientist who has made achievements in the above fields can be called "the legendary swordsman". It is indeed a miracle that a folk scholar two hundred years ago can become a generalist across several major scientific fields.

Interestingly, Zou Yisheng is "thoughtful and lazy to write", and there are not many works. A large number of manuscripts are only written for memos, which is very unsystematic. This is in line with Leonardo da Vinci, the greatest generalist in the period of literary criticism. The latter is not only one of the greatest painters in human history, but also an accomplished mathematician, physicist, astronomer, geologist, hydraulic engineer, architect and anatomist ... This achievement is amazing. Leonardo da Vinci's brain is also much faster than a pen. Apart from leonardo da vinci's messy notes, few works have been handed down from generation to generation.

Leonardo da Vinci lived in the Renaissance, which was the first time that world science ushered in the dawn. The late Qing Dynasty, where Zou lived, was the first time that modern science in China ushered in the dawn. They live in Florence, where trade is developed and the shackles of medieval thought are gradually loosened; Guangzhou, which lives under the shackles of prosperous business and Confucian traditional concepts, has quietly loosened. Of course, Zou's scientific achievements can't be compared with Da Vinci's, but does this amazing similarity mean some historical necessity?

Scientific spirit

Be fascinated by making musical instruments.

The days of burning money in experiments are getting harder and harder.

Now that we are talking about Da Vinci, let's talk about an American drama "Da Vinci's Devil" which is very popular among petty bourgeoisie youth. In this drama, Leonardo da Vinci, an energetic young man, developed artillery shells, invented photography and cameras, tried to build primitive planes, and pounded 1.0 diving suits and submarines. In short, he went to the sea and could do anything. TV dramas are inevitably exaggerated, but it is a historical fact that Leonardo da Vinci left behind countless inventions and creations. Open the Da Vinci's notes compiled and published by later generations, and look at the "ancestor-class" bicycles, hang gliders, elevators, parachutes, gear drives, anemometers and diving respirators he developed and designed ... The variety is staggering.

A flash of light

Become the first person to invent the camera.

I wanted to write about Zou, but later I blamed Da Vinci. Of course, this is not because there is a word "odd" in their names, but because Zou is as obsessed with scientific experiments as Da Vinci. He invented and designed a large number of scientific instruments, the most famous of which was China's first camera. According to the research of Dai Nianzu, an expert in the history of natural science, when Zou used a lens to make a fire, his mind flashed and he began to develop the black box, the "originator" of the camera, when he was just 26 years old. But according to the author's understanding, Zou wouldn't have had this "flash of light" moment if he hadn't spent nearly 10 years studying optics. For example, ordinary people like you and me only think about where to go, but not about any scientific inventions.

Zou described in detail the process of making a black box in a manuscript: find a wooden box with a hole in the front, install a convex lens, put a piece of white paper in the box, open a hole in the back of the wooden box, cover the second half of the wooden box with black cloth, and aim the convex lens at the "photographed" object, so that the image will clearly appear on the white paper. This invention seems simple, but it took China people two thousand years from Mozi's "pinhole imaging" experiment to making black boxes by using optical principles.

After successfully developing the black box, Zou began to look for photosensitive materials tirelessly. His ingredients list includes dozens of materials such as egg white, salt, rosin charcoal, fire wine, antler juice, red arsenic rust water, silver powder, peach gum and bitter gum, and some of them are also taken from plants unique to Lingnan. Look at the west again, 1839, French Daguerre invented "silver disk photography"; 1847, Europeans invented "glass plate photography", which replaced silver-copper alloy plate with glass plate. The date of the invention and improvement of photography in Europe is clearly remembered, but it is not an ordinary difficulty for scholars to verify the date of Zou's invention of "glass plate photography". Mr. Dai Nianzu tried his best to infer that Zou should have independently invented glass photography made of "light potion" and "egg glue" in a year between 1846 and 1850, which is almost equivalent to that in Europe.

Burning money in scientific research

Wealthy families gnawed at vegetable roots.

The camera is Zou's most famous invention. In addition, the scientific instruments he invented go hand in hand with his theoretical research. In other words, Zou is obsessed with the development of scientific instruments, whose purpose is to verify the basic theory, which is the true embodiment of the scientific spirit. In astronomy, he made a celestial globe about half a meter high according to his own star map of the north and south of the equator. Shortly after Heliocentrism of Copernicus was introduced into China, he took the lead in manufacturing the first solar system performance instrument in China by using Heliocentrism. In physics, he created a "mercury overflow calibrator" and a barometer (Zou called it a rain needle); In the measurement, he made a variety of sundials, especially considering the magnetic declination of Guangzhou when designing ... all kinds of inventions are full of whimsy.

In modern times, most inventors like Zou who created a number of "firsts" don't have to worry about research funding, but 200 years ago, he was obsessed with the development of scientific instruments, which was really difficult for him. As a folk scholar, Zou can hardly get any financial support, and the cost of scientific experiments is quite high. The Zou family now has a house and land. Originally a well-off family, in Zou's hands, life became poorer and poorer, and the former "Gao Fushuai" had to gnaw at vegetable roots. Even so, Zou refused the invitation to be an official twice. Now, most people interpret his choice as simple and earnest, but I take the liberty to think that if Zou hears this, he will laugh it off. Although he is in a corner of the South China Sea, his thoughts can wander in the solar system. It's too late to be happy on such a day. Where is it necessary to "live a hard life"?