Goodricke's Time

What is the most important thing in life? Young John Goodricke was convinced he knew. This, coupled with genius, propelled him forward. His night sky observations made from a lonely garret window in York led to the most important naked eye discovery in all of astronomy, yet he remained unassuming and humble. He was also totally deaf.

He lived in ‘Enlightenment’ England, but it was still a society where prospects for the deaf child were bleak. Determined parents placed him in the first school for the deaf in all Great Britain, setting him on the path to the highest recognition given by the Royal Society.

Goodricke’s Time is an historical novel, but not an alternate history. Well known contemporaries such as William Herschel, Nevil Maskelyne, Samuel Johnson and others all play their part on the page as they did in life. It is a true tale of disability, dogged science and the conflict between solitude and loneliness we all carry within.