Mathematician:Edmund Halley

Mathematician

English astronomer, geophysicist, mathematician, meteorologist, and physicist best known for computing the orbit of Halley's Comet.

He was the second Astronomer Royal in Britain, succeeding John Flamsteed.

Nationality

English

History

• Born: 8 November 1656 in Haggerston, Shoreditch (near London), England
• Died: 14 January 1742 in Greenwich (near London), England

Theorems and Definitions

• Halley's Method

Results named for Edmund Halley can be found here.

Publications

• 1685 to 1693: Editor of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, in which he would on occasion publish his own papers
• 1687: Editor of Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica by Isaac Newton
• 1710: a Latin translation of Conics by Apollonius of Perga
• 1720: Universal Arithmetick, Or, A Treatise of Arithmetical Composition and Resolution (with Isaac Newton) (translation of Isaac Newton's Arithmetica Universalis with added material)

Also known as

Some sources spell his name as Edmond Halley.

The pronunciation of his surname can cause confusion. Its correct pronunciation is to rhyme with valley, or possibly (doubtfully) to rhyme it with poorly.

Pronouncing it Haley, as in Bill Haley, is a mistake.

Sources

• John J. O'Connor and Edmund F. Robertson: "Edmund Halley": MacTutor History of Mathematics archive

• 1992: George F. Simmons: Calculus Gems ... (previous) ... (next): Chapter $\text {A}.18$: Newton ($\text {1642}$ – $\text {1727}$)
• 1998: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Halley, Edmond (1656-1742)
• 2008: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (4th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Halley, Edmond (1656-1742)
• 2014: Christopher Clapham and James Nicholson: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Mathematics (5th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Halley, Edmond FRS (1656-1742)