John Gough (natural philosopher)
| John Gough | |
|---|---|
| Born |
15 January 1757 Kendal, Westmorland, England |
| Died | 28 July 1825 (aged 68) Kendal, Westmorland, England |
| Residence | England |
| Nationality | English |
| Fields | Polymath, natural philosopher |
| Academic advisors | John Slee George Bewley |
| Notable students |
John Dalton William Whewell Richard Dawes Thomas Gaskin |
John Gough (/ɡɒf/; 17 January 1757 – 28 July 1825) was a blind English natural and experimental philosopher who is known for his own investigations as well as the influence he had on both John Dalton and William Whewell.
John Gough was born in Kendal, Westmorland, on 17 January 1757, the eldest child of Nathan Gough (d. 1800) and his wife, Susannah (1731–1798). Gough's father was a wool dyer and shearman dyer, while his mother was the eldest daughter of John Wilson, a prosperous farmer with an estate on the west bank of Windermere. Nathan and Susannah Gough had three sons and four daughters, one of whom died in infancy. The family belonged to the Society of Friends, whose communities flourished in Cumberland and Westmorland during this period. Before he was three years old, Gough was attacked by smallpox and lost his sight. In his childhood he expended much effort in developing his sense of touch and hearing, and appears to have been especially eager to learn to recognize animals by touch.
In 1778 at the age of twenty-one, Gough became a resident pupil of John Slee, a mathematical master at Mungrisedale, Cumberland. Gough stayed at Mungrisedale for eighteen months, following the traditional curriculum up to the elementary principles of calculus. Returning home he took up calculus, with his second sister, Dorothy Gough (b. 1768), acting as his reader. From around 1782 to 1790 he enjoyed the acquaintance of John Dalton, a cousin of George Bewley and also a lakeland Quaker, who had come to Kendal to take up a position in Bewley's school. Dalton assisted Gough by reading, writing, and making calculations and diagrams on his behalf. In return Dalton, who later became one of the most eminent figures in nineteenth-century science, was tutored by Gough in Latin and Greek. Dalton later referred to Gough as a "prodigy in scientific attainments."
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