themelinda's blog

In 1909 Arthur C. Pillsbury made the first nature film, showing it on the porch of his studio in Yosemite. His audiences grew. He followed this with the first lapse-time camera (1912), the first microscopic motion picture camera (1927), the first X-ray motion picture camera (1929)., and the first underwater motion picture camera (1930). His films, which took you into places human eyes had never been, stunned viewers across America, Canada, and England. Refusing to patent, Pillsbury made sure these extensions in human vision would remain accessible to people everywhere. Knowledge shared enriches all of us. Pillsbury believed seeing was the road to community, respect for the individual, and freedom. He called it the Knowledge Commons. Today we say, Open Source. When we can see other people, and forms of life, we empathize, sensing our essential sameness, and are moved to love and protect. He was one man, but he dedicated his life to turning back the rising tide of corporate greed in a way which has changed our world, though most people have never heard of him. Extending Human Vision is the beginning of a story too long untold.