c. 470-c. 391 B.C.

Chinese philosopher, also known as Mo ti, who provided what may be the earliest account of a camera obscura. In about 400 B.C. Mo-tzu observed reflected light rays from an illuminated object passing through a pinhole into a otherwise completely dark room. He noted that these create a precisely inverted image of the original object. More than 2,200 years later, this principle would influence the development of the camera.