Richard J. Goodrich, Ph.D., teaches late-Roman and early-church history at Gonzaga University. He is the author of six academic books, as well as the monthly quirky history newsletter, What's New in Old News? His writing has been featured in Columbia Magazine, American History, and Medium. More information on Goodrich can be found on his website www.richardjgoodrich.com. Follow him on Twitter @RJGoodrichWrite.
"""A fascinating account of a time when everyone thought they had the inside source, or the real scoop on a situation, didn't and countless innocent and gullible people paid the cost...Recommended for both science readers and people interested in both media and how rumors and bad science can become so ingrained in people's heads and hearts.""--Dan O., NetGalley Review ""Comet Madness is a fascinating look at historical issues that we still struggle with today -- media overhype, the tension between the scientific process and the need for headlines and, yes, not knowing what's in the skies above us.""--Elizabeth Held, What to Read If ""Go ahead and pick up a copy of Comet Madness and enjoy the tale of how the world was (almost) destroyed.""--Elizabeth M., NetGalley Review ""Goodrich takes a look at how the media created an absolute frenzy around...well, not much of anything but misrepresentations and crackpot theories. If you are a person who walks around these days saying, ""fake news"" then this book is clearly for you.""--Brendan Dowd, History Nerds United ""In a comprehensive overview of the literature that documented these apparitions at the time, Comet Madness offers a thorough sweep through the musings of those foretelling the reasons behind a comet's appearance and the consequences likely to befall the world from its fiery presence. Author and historian Richard J Goodrich relates how civilisations reacted to the foretelling and subsequent sighting of a new arrival in the heavens. With the use of intriguing and often whimsical comet-based quotes to head up each chapter, he neatly catalogues in a flowing dialogue how centuries of archive material generally paint a desperate picture heralded by a comet's presence, of widespread fear among all walks of life.""--BBC Sky at Night Magazine ""This is an excellent read all round, for science and astronomy buffs particularly, but sociologists, anthropologists, and indeed anyone interested in media and its influence on culture will find it fascinating.""--Patricia G., NetGalley Review ""Goodrich vividly shows how little it took ""to drive some Americans back to the fears and superstitions of a prescientific world."" This slice of history fascinates.""-Publishers Weekly"