Carl Vogt

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Carl Vogt

1817-1895

French zoologist who helped pioneer the use of photography in scientific publication. Vogt's photographic image of the Berlin Archaeopteryx macrura originally appeared in the Revue Scientifique in 1879. Archaeopteryx at the time was believed to be an intermediate form between birds and reptiles. His illustration of the actual slab containing the fossil of this animal was a photograph, not a drawing as was the usual convention, and he received a great deal of criticism because the photograph did not provide as much detail as a drawing. Today, however, photographs are included in scientific work all the time.

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