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1932: William Taylor
William Taylor (1865-1937)
47th President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers
Taylor was born in Hackney, London, England in 1865. He served his apprenticeship from 1880 to 1885 with Paterson and Cooper, electrical engineers and scientific instrument makers. He also studied electrical engineering at the City and Guilds of London Technical College at Finsbury.
After further experience with Paterson and Cooper, mainly in the design and installation of electric lighting plants, he joined his brother, an optician, in Leicester. They founded the company of Taylor, Taylor and Hobson in 1886. William’s intention had always been to apply mechanical engineering principles to the different processes involved in making lenses. He made a comprehensive study of these methods and embodied the results in production machines of his own design. Some of his earliest inventions were related to engraving machines and appliances for the mathematical division of lines and circles. His most important work was relating to the screw thread. He was made a member of the Engineering Standards Committee on screw threads and limit gauges and of the British Association Small Screw Gauge Committee.
During the First World War, Taylor designed machines for the accurate polishing of lenses and made it possible to produce large numbers of such lenses for binoculars. He also devised new methods of lens manufacture for aerial photography and produced lenses for range finders, gun sights, and telescopes. He was awarded the OBE for his services. After the war, he was responsible for the manufacture of special photographic lenses for cinematography cameras. He was known as an expert in the field and was often consulted on photographic problems.
He served on the Council of the National Physical Laboratory and on the Sectional Committees on Optical Instruments and Optical Instrument Standards of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1934.
He was President of the IMechE in 1932 and was made an Honorary Life Member in 1936.
Taylor died in 1937.
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