Looking For His Grave
Goodricke became deaf after contracting scarlet fever at age five. He attended Thomas Braidwood's School for the Deaf in Edinburgh and then the Warrington Academy, where he was an excellent student of mathematics and astronomy. After returning to his parents' home in York, England, he made astronomical observations with his neighbour and distant relative, Edward Pigott.
The two were the first to measure accurately the brightnesses of stars whose light varies with time. Goodricke reported the first precise measurement of the period of variation of the star Algol, which is now known to be an eclipsing binary star. For this work, he was awarded the Copley Medal of the Royal Society of London in 1783. He was elected to membership in the Royal Society in 1786, less than two weeks before he died at the age of 21. He is buried with his grandparents, parents, brother, and nephew in the churchyard at Hunsingore, North Yorkshire. At present, the only stone marking their burial places says "The Goodricke Vault." (bio by: Linda French)
Goodricke College at the University of York is named after Goodricke. There is also a modern sculpture named Algol in the grounds.
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