I was tossed the problem of making up a [camera] lens. I went to a textbook and got the simplest looking thing, which was a Cooke triplet, that I could get, and there was a rough specification of it. I worked on that until I improved it as much as I could, and then got the lens made and mounted in the lab. And we took photos with it and it performed reasonably well. So that was a first rough go. - F.D. Cruickshank(1)
Fletcher Donaldson Cruickshank was Senior Lecturer in Physics at the University of Tasmania. He was part of the small but dedicated team which also designed and produced optics (which also included A.L. McAulay and the Waterworth brothers). Cruickshank was adept in designing of lenses; perhaps one of his most important designs was a camera lens for the RAAF.
After the war, Cruickshank was one of the few Australian physicists to continue optical research. He continued his association with Waterworth for many years after the war, acting as a scientific adviser to the firm.
(1) Jill Cassidy (1990), Eric Waterworth: an inventive Tasmanian, Exhibition Catalogue, Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston, p. 13.
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