1896 - 1982

In 1916 Norman Abraham Esserman finished his degree in Mathematics at the University of Sydney. Between 1917 and 1920, he travelled to London to study optics at the Munitions Office's Arsenal Branch. On his return to Australia in 1920, Esserman became the first physicist to join the Department of Defence. He worked in the Munitions Supply Laboratories, and eventually worked his way up the ladder to become Assistant Superintendent.

In 1938, Esserman became the Officer-in-Charge of the Metrology (Measurement) Section of the National Standards Laboratory (NSL). He brought a great deal of expertise in optics to the NSL and was a valuable member of the Optical Munitions Panel throughout the war years.

Esserman later became Chairman of the Technical Advisory Committee on Optical Munitions (TACOM), which was established in February 1952:

to advise the Department of Defence Production on matters relating to Optical Munitions and to re-establish the precision optical industry which developed during the 1939-45 war but was disbanded at the cessation of hostilities. (1)

(1) H.C. Bolton (1983), 'J.J. McNeill and the Development of Optical Research in Australia', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 5, no. 4, p. 65.

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