Edmond Halley

It's fact
An alternative (and incorrect) pronunciation of Halley's surname, to rhyme with "Bailey", has led to rock and roll singer, Bill Haley punningly to call his backing band "Comets" after Halley's Comet. 
Halley's Comet.


Edmond Halley
(1656-1742)
The discoverer of the most "famous" comet


Birth : 8th November, 1656 in Haggerston, England 
Death : 14th January 1742 in Green-wich, England 
Fields : Astronomy, Physics, Mathematics, Geophysics, Meteorology, Science History


Edmund's father was a successful soap trader and boiler, who was also named Edmund Halley and provided generously to his son's education. The young Halley studied at Queen's college, Oxford and published work on the Solar System and sunspots.


It is said that the Halley's comet that appears every 76 years can be viewed by a man once in a life time. It appeared to Earth last time in 1986.The astronomer who "discovered" this was none other than Edmund Halley and he correctly presumed that the comet that appeared in 1305,1380 ,1456 , 1531, 1607, and 1682 was the same comet. This comet is now known by Halley's name. 


On leaving Oxford, he went to south Atlantic island of St. Helena to study the stars of the southern hemisphere. This endeavour was taken by Halley because the northern hemisphere stars were mapped by another great astronomer and colleague, John Elamsteed who would  later become Halley's arch enemy. In the same year, Halley published 'Catalogus Stellarum Australium' which included details of 341 southern stars and earned him a reputation among scholars as a notable astronomer. In 1686 Halley published the second part of the results from his expedition, and a paper and charts on trade winds and monsoons. In this he identified solar heating as the cause of atmospheric motions. He also established the relationship between barometric pressure and height above sea level. Halley also did pioneering work in magnetic surveys of the oceans as well.


After marriage, Halley spent most of his time on observing the moon, but was also interested in the problems of gravity. He was particularly interested in proving Kepler's laws of planetary motion. He went to Cambridge to discuss the issue with Sir Isaac Newton, only to find he had solved the problem tong time ago, but has not published anything. It was Halley who helped and encouraged Newton to publish the 'Principia Mathematica Philosophiae Naturalis', at Halley's own expense, which became the most influential book in the history of physical sciences.


In 1703, Halley was appointed as Savilian Professor of Geometry at Oxford University. By this time Halley and Flamsteed were not in good terms. For this reason Flamsteed commented that "Dr. Wallis is dead Mr. Halley expects his placewho now talks, swears and drinks brandy like a sea captain". 


When Flammteed became the first astronomer Royal and withheld astronomical data from the Great Newton, Halley took Newton's side. Flamsteed later went to courts to get back his data from Newton's clutches. 


Halley was also a pioneer of actuarial sciences as well. He compiled records of people needing pensions and clearly advised the government of his day regarding this matter. 

Posted in: Greatest Astronomers