John William Draper

John William Draper(1811-1822) was a scientist born in St Helens Merseyside and immigrated to USA . He became a chemistry professor in New York university. Most of his work was done in the field of photochemistry.He was one of the first scientists to use Daguerre's new invention of photography.

In March 1840, he presented the Lyceum of natural history in New York with the first representation of the moon's surface ever taken by photography in high quality by John William Draper.The silver platinum plate (Daguerreotype print) of the moon was,the first of

a series that where shot using a telescope. This series was later presented at the Science Academy.He was also the first to shoot portrait in America.

He made it the subject of special study, and was the first person in the world to apply it to individuals. "The first photographic portrait from life was made by me," he says, and "the face of the sitter," his sister Catherine

In 1872 he photographed the spectrum of a Lyrae (Vega), showing dark lines, a result then unique in science, and in 1873 the finest photograph of the diffraction spectrum ever made.

The First photo of the moon 1839

http://www.famousamericans.net/johnwilliamdraper/

http://www.fotoart.gr/photography/history/historyphotos/onephotoonestory/thefirstphotoofthemoon.htm