John Goodricke 1764-1786
is the story of one of the most unusual astronomers of all time. His
name was John Goodricke and he was deaf and unable to speak. He would
have a tragically short life but his contribution to astronomy would
was born in Groningen in Holland on September 17th
1764 to Henry and Levina Goodricke. The Goodricke family were a
typical English aristocratic family with their ancestral home being
at Ribston Hall near Knaresborough in North Yorkshire.
grandfather Sir John Goodricke was the powerhouse of the family and
achieved some importance within political circles. When he heard of
the birth of his grandson he was most pleased, but turned to dismay
when shortly afterwards it was realised that the infant was deaf.
There was a very strong stigma imposed on disabilities within the
aristocracy at that time.
the early 1770s the Goodricke’s returned to England to York, the
young John Goodricke was sent to Edinburgh to a school run by Thomas
Braidwood for deaf children. We have little information of this part
of his life, it is possible he learnt to lip read, sign language had
not yet been devised. In 1778 he was sent to the Warrington Academy
which had no special provisions for children with special needs.
was here that he developed a great interest in mathematics, science
and in particular astronomy. He left the Warrington academy in 1781
and returned to York to live in the Treasurers House near York
Minster. It was here that his astronomical career would begin. He
began his astronomical journal on the 16th
year earlier a distant cousin who was also an astronomer would also
move to York, this was Edward Pigott. Edward Pigott lived with his
father Nathaniel yet another astronomer at what is now No. 33 Bootham
in York, the house still survives today is where William Arthur
Evelyn (1860-1935) a pioneer of conservation in York lived.
John Goodricke and Edward Pigott they would forge an astronomical
partnership that would push back the frontiers of astronomy. They
would not only make discoveries but like true scientists they would
try to explain them.
were an odd couple, Goodricke a deaf youth of just 17, with his older
cousin Pigott who had spent much of his life living in France and
like to dress up French style. This was much more flowery than the
more conservative English style. Today Pigott would have been
described as a ‘dandy’
only reason that the Pigotts were in York was that Nathaniel Pigott
who was a distant cousin of Lady Anne Fairfax of Gilling Castle in
North Yorkshire was trying to swindle her out of her inheritance!
Edward played no part in this.
two astronomers come together in 1781 just a few months after William
Herschel discovered the planet Uranus from his home in the city of
Bath. The scientific community was abuzz with all things
quickly began observing the sky, the Pigotts observatory has been
described as the 3rd
best private observatory in England while Goodricke used a small
telescope at the Treasurers House.
knew of a star in the constellation of Perseus that was called Algol,
its official title is Beta Perseus, as far back as 1669 astronomers
had noticed that it changed in brightness. It is what astronomers
refer to today as a variable star because it varies in brightness.
The world Algol means ‘The Winking Demon’ as this star marks the
eye of the medusa from Greek mythology.
observed the star and recorded that it remained at its brightest for
2 day, 20 hours, 48 minutes and 56 seconds, then it fades away for
about 10 hours then recovers to it normal brightness. We know that
today Goodricke’s observations are within a few seconds of modern
estimates. This was of course using just his eye and a clock.
because Goodricke was deaf a servant used his finger to mark out the
beat of the clock to accurately work out the time. Even now we can
see how the mind of Goodricke was working because although he knew
that Pigott was making observations of Algol from his observatory in
Bootham Goodricke knew that if Pigott was using the chimes of the
bells in York Minster to check the time it would take an extra half a
second for the sound to reach Pigott.
in particular and Pigott both assumed there was another body orbiting
Algol and blocking the light, and they were of course correct. They
believed that it could be a planet, we know today that it was another
star. However the idea that a planet can change the amount of light
we see from another star is one of the ways that astronomers use to
discover planets around other stars. They were over 200 years ahead
of their time in thinking.John
Goodricke was only 19 in 1783 when he wrote to the Royal Society
about his observations and thoughts on Algol. He was unknown was
deaf unknown outside of York, but Edward Pigott was good at
networking and he knew anybody of importance in astronomy. He
contacted his friend Nevil Maskelyne the astronomer royal explained
what was happening and Goodricke’s work was published.
effect on the astronomical community was electrifying, all over the
country people were observing Algol, Goodricke was awarded the Copley
medal by the Royal Society the highest award they could give.
Goodricke and Pigott had stopped here they still would have made a
remarkable contribution to astronomy, this was just the start they
were not going to stop now.
September 1784 would become a night to remember in York, with not
just one but two new variable stars being discovered, they were by
Goodricke Beta Lyra in the constellation of Lyra (the Lyre) and from
Pigott eta Aquila in the constellation of Aquila (the Eagle).The
indefatigable Goodricke would discover another variable star on
this was delta Cepheus in the constellation of Cepheus (the King).
This star is of immense importance today it is used a distance marker
because it allows astronomers when locating these so called Cepheid
variables to determine how far away distant galaxies are. Goodricke
could of course never know of the importance of this star.
discoveries were due to their complete knowledge of the locations of
stars in the sky by continuously observing the night sky.
reports were sent to London, the astronomers there must have wondered
what on earth was going on in York!
Goodricke he did not know it his short life was nearly over, he died
on the 20th
April 1786 probably from pneumonia caught while observing the night
sky. During the 1780s the river Ouse in York regularly froze over for
up to 6 week each year giving an indication of how cold it was. He
was made a fellow of the Royal Society a most prestigious honour for
someone so young. Sadly he died two weeks before that letter arrived
so he never knew of that honour.