Harold Dennis Taylor (10 July 1862, in

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

– 26 February 1943) was a British optical designer and inventor, chiefly famous for the invention of the

Cooke Triplet The Cooke triplet is a photographic lens designed and patented (patent number GB 22,607) in 1893 by Dennis Taylor who was employed as chief engineer by T. Cooke & Sons of York. It was the first lens system that allowed elimination of most of th ...

, although he was granted about 50 other patents. He was born in 1862 in Huddersfield, attended

St Peter's School, York St Peter's School is a co-educational independent boarding and day school (also referred to as a public school), in the English City of York, with extensive grounds on the banks of the River Ouse. Founded by St Paulinus of York in AD 627, ...

, and began the study of architecture. Circa 1880, he abandoned this to work at Thomas Cooke and Sons of York, a company which produced the finest quality optical instruments, telescopes in particular. As optical manager and chief designer for Thomas Cooke, he won fame for the design and patent in 1893 of the

and was awarded the

Duddell Medal and Prize The Dennis Gabor Medal and Prize (previously the Duddell Medal and Prize until 2008) is a prize awarded biannually by the Institute of Physics for distinguished contributions to the application of physics in an industrial, commercial or business ...

in 1933. He had married Charlotte Fernandes Barff on 24 July 1888. They had one daughter, Doris, and two sons, Leslie and Edward. Their son

Edward Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...

was also a published optical designer. He died in retirement in Coxwold, North Yorkshire. File:Cooke triplet.JPG, Cooke triplet File:A System of Applied Optics.JPG

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Harold Dennis 1862 births 1943 deaths People from Huddersfield People educated at St Peter's School, York British scientific instrument makers Lens designers