John Goodricke (September 17 1764 – April 20 1786) was an amateur astronomer. He was born in Groningen in the Netherlands, but lived most of his life in England. He was named after, and was a grandson of, Sir John Goodricke .
He is best known for his observations of the variable star Algol (Beta Persei) in 1782. Although several stars were already known to vary in apparent magnitude, Goodricke was the first to propose a mechanism that could account for this. He suggested that Algol is what is now known as an eclipsing binary. He presented his findings to the Royal Society in May 1783, and for this work, the Society awarded him the Copley Medal for that year. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society on April 16 1786. He never learned of this honour, as he died four days later, probably from pneumonia.
Goodricke was profoundly deaf through most of his life. It is not certain whether he was born deaf, or became deaf in childhood as a result of a fever. His parents sent him to Braidwood's Academy , a school for the deaf in Edinburgh in Scotland, and then, in 1778, to the Warrington Academy . After leaving the Academy, he returned to live with his parents in York. There, he became friends with Edward Pigott , whose father Nathaniel Pigott had built a sophisticated private observatory. Edward was already interested in variable stars, and he gave Goodricke a list of them that he thought were worthy of observation.
Goodricke College at the University of York is named after Goodricke.
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Last updated: 10-12-2005 11:28:30
