What achievements did Sir Hershel have in the photography industry?

The British astronomer Sir John Herschel took his first picture with a telescope and developed a method of fixing the image on glass. The earliest extant photograph printed on glass in the world was taken by him in September 1839.

On March 14, 1839, Herschel submitted a report "On Photographic Technology" to the Royal Academy. The report was accompanied by 23 photos printed on paper and their plates. In addition to the first photo he took with a telescope, there are also engravings made by superimposition and prints reproduced using photographic methods.

In addition, Hershel also explored adhesives. In 1839, he conducted an experiment: placed a piece of glass under a basin of silver chloride solution, and allowed the silver chloride solution to slowly deposit on the glass plate. This experiment provided useful inspiration for subsequent researchers. Later, he suggested that Talbot use sea waves as a fixative instead of salt to fix the image. These experiments and opinions played a role in promoting the birth of photography.

Herschel’s greatest contribution to photography was the standardization of photographic terminology. As early as January 1839, he first wrote down the words "photography" (Photograph verb) and "photographic" (Photographic adjective) in his notes. On March 14 of the same year, in a report to the Royal Academy, he was the first to use the term "Photography" (from the Greek, "depicting with light"). "Negative" (referring to the effect produced by Talbot's method in a camera obscura) and "positive" (referring to photos with correct tones printed using "negative") were also proposed by Herschel. Twenty years later, he was the first to use the new term "snapshot".