Great and strange men, some whose fame derives from activities in other fields, others hardly recorded in the passing of history, contributed to what was eventually to become the motion picture. Many of the pioneers of the magic shadow art-science realized the entertainment, educational and scientific potentialities of their discoveries; others did not, because they were preoccupied with other affairs and only toyed with the light and shadow devices. The following chapters tell how men learned about vision and light, and how apparatus to record and project living realities was developed. It is the story of the origin of the motion picture, from Adam to Edison. IT STARTED WITH “A” _First magic shadow show--Ancient optical studies--Chinese Shadow Plays, Japanese and English mirrors--The art-science begins with Aristotle and Archimedes, Greeks, and Alhazen, an Arab._ From any viewpoint the story of the origin of the motion picture begins with “A”. The fundamental and instinctive urge to create pictures in living reality goes all the way back to Adam. Aristotle developed the theoretical basis of the science of optics. Archimedes made the first systematic use of lenses and mirrors. Alhazen, the Arab, pioneered in the study of the human eye, a prerequisite for developing machines to duplicate requisite functions of the human eye. Lights and shadows were made when the night and the day were made: And God said: Be light made. And light was made. And God saw the light that it was good; and He divided the light from the darkness. And He called the light Day, and the darkness Night; and there was evening and morning one day. * * * * * And God said: Let there be lights made in the firmament of heaven.... And God made two great lights: a greater light to rule the day; and a lesser light to rule the night; and the stars. --_Book of Genesis_ The moon playing upon silent waters, the sun casting deepening shadows in the woods, a twinkling campfire, starlight dancing on ruffled waters--all provided the first pageantries of light and shadow. The first eclipse of the sun seen by man was the most thrilling and terrifying light and shadow show of that era, a premiere never rivalled by Hollywood’s best.