Edmond Halley

Edmond Halley (1656–1742) was an English astronomer and mathematician who calculated the orbit of the comet later named after him and predicted its return in 1758.

Isaac Newton: English mathematician and physicist whose laws of motion and universal gravitation transformed seventeenth-century science. Halley recognized the power of Newton’s gravitational theory and financed publication of the Principia.
Halley's Comet: A periodic comet that returns to the inner solar system roughly every 76 years. Halley identified its 1531, 1607, and 1682 appearances as returns of one comet.
Halley’s map of magnetic declination: A 1701 chart depicting magnetic compass variation across the Atlantic and nearby regions. Halley used observations from an Atlantic voyage to map magnetic variation for navigators.
Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica: Isaac Newton’s 1687 work presenting laws of motion and universal gravitation. Halley encouraged Newton to write it, paid for its publication, and edited the work.
John Flamsteed: English astronomer who became the first Astronomer Royal and compiled a major star catalogue. Halley’s strained dealings with Flamsteed shaped the publication of Flamsteed’s observations.
Newton's law of universal gravitation: The law stating that every mass attracts every other mass with force proportional to their masses and inversely proportional to distance squared. Halley used Newtonian gravity to calculate the comet’s path and estimate its return.
Transit of Venus: An astronomical event in which Venus passes across the face of the Sun as seen from Earth. Halley proposed timing transits of Venus from distant locations to estimate the Earth–Sun distance.
Celestial mechanics: The application of mechanics and gravitation to the motion of celestial bodies. Halley’s comet calculations helped demonstrate that gravitational theory could explain observed orbits.
Christiaan Huygens: Dutch mathematician and natural philosopher known for work on astronomy, mechanics, and the wave theory of light. Halley engaged with Huygens’s work on Saturn and the physical structure of the solar system.
Kepler's laws of planetary motion: Three mathematical rules describing how planets orbit the Sun. Kepler’s rules supplied the orbital framework Halley applied to comet observations.

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