On 26th May 1697 Halley carefully studied the mercury in his barometer on the summit of Snowdon, the highest mountain in southern Britain. Later the same day he took a reading at the foot of the mountain. On the following day he observed the pressure at sea level. Using a formula based on the variation in readings he determined the height of the mountain.

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Rainbows and evaporation, meteors and classical studies all captured Halley’s attention. As early as 1688 he showed an interest in the problem of supplying air to divers. He wrote a paper on The Art of Living Under Water and described his own experiences: I my self have been One or Five who have [stayed] together at the Bottom, in Nine or Ten Fathoms Water, for above an Hour and a half at a time, without any sort of ill consequence. A practical man, he proposed to raise sunken ships by using air-filled barrels. He formed a company for salvaging wrecks and in 1691 was engaged in actual underwater operations.

Halley had many friends; among them was the great mathematician Isaac Newton. The Principia, Newton’s brilliant work on gravity and mechanics, might never have been published except for the unselfish devotion of Edmund Halley. Not only did he help Newton collect astronomical data, but he undertook to supervise and pay for the printing.

Though encouraging Newton to publish his monumental work may be Halley’s most lasting contribution, many people know him simply as the comet man. After collecting and analyzing cometary observations from the past, Halley was able to predict that the 1682 comet would reappear in 1758. He knew that he would not be alive to see the apparition and he did not hope for personal fame if his prediction proved correct. He did hope that posterity will not refuse to acknowledge that this was first discovered by an Englishman. Indeed the comet was sighted–on Christmas Day 1758. At approximately 76-year intervals, in 1835 and 1910, it made return visits.

After England’s first Astronomer Royal, John Flamsteed, died in 1719, Edmund Halley was appointed to the position. He found the Royal Observatory on Greenwich Hill quite bare of all instruments and moveable items as these had all belonged to Flamsteed and had been removed by his executor. With a grant of £500 Halley purchased equipment and for the next 22 years, until his death at the age of 85, the energetic astronomer recorded his observations.

Until a year before his death Halley made a weekly trip to London by river for a gathering of friends Child’s Coffee-House before going on to a meeting of the Royal Society. The years were beginning to take their toll. One contemporary remembered that Dr. Halley never eat any Thing but Fish, for he had no teeth. He suffered partial paralysis of his right hand. When death finally came, the old Astronomer Royal was seated in his chair at the Greenwich Observatory.

This article was written by Norma Joan Paul for British Heritage.

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