TOM GOODEY: The Father of Nematology in Britain

Abstract

Tom Goodey O.B.E., D.Sc., F.R.S. is generally recognized as the Father of Nematology in Britain. Although his early postgraduate work was on soil protozoa, from 1920 he worked exclusively on nematodes. His first text book, Plant Parasitic Nematodes and the Diseases They Cause, published in 1933, was a notable landmark in the development of nematology (48). His second book Soil and Freshwater Nematodes (80) indicated his breadth of understanding of this vast group of animals. From 1921 until 1946 he was a member of the team working under Professor R.T. Leiper based for most of that time at the Institute of Agricultural Parasitology, Winches Farm, St. Albans, England. He was author, or coauthor, of 125 publications, which included the proposal of 9 new genera, 37 new species and 49 detailed redescriptions of nematodes. In 1947 he was made head of the newly formed Nematology Department at Rothamsted Experimental Station, where he stayed until his retirement in 1952. In his later years he struck up a very close friendship with Gerald Thorne, the American nematologist, with whom he exchanged ideas on techniques in hematology. In 1951, he was responsible for the very successful nematology symposium held in Harpenden, which marked the beginning of the biennial nematology symposia in Europe. As well as a very full and successful scientific career, he was also a professional singer with a fine tenor voice and he frequently performed for the theater, concert hall, and radio broadcasts under his stage name of Roger Clayson.