Edmond Halley: The Many Discoveries of the Most Curious Astronomer Royal - Hardcover

by David K. Love (Author)

Edmond Halley is known far and wide thanks largely to the comet bearing his name, the return of which he predicted in 1705. While that discovery would be enough to make the career of any scientist, Halley's massive contributions to the fields of astronomy, navigation, geophysics, mathematics, engineering, and actuarial science as a young man and eventually as Astronomer Royal are mostly overlooked. Edmond Halley: The Many Discoveries of the Most Curious Astronomer Royal is a revelatory and deeply researched biography of a man whose defining achievement isn't even the half of it.

A jack-of-all-trades when it came to scientific reasoning, an all-around academic and workaholic who couldn't leave well enough alone, Halley was amazingly productive and prolific. He was behind some of the most groundbreaking discoveries in human history: It was Halley who was the first to accurately plot the stars of the southern hemisphere. He published Isaac Newton's Principia, arguably the most important scientific text ever written; translated the works of ancient Greek mathematician Apollonius; captained the ship Paramore on a scientific expedition to plot the Earth's magnetic fields; was the first to calculate mortality annuities, creating the foundation for actuarial science; made improvements to the diving bell; surveyed the tides of the English Channel; and began the movement to accurately measure the distance between the Earth and Sun, unlocking the key to determining the distances to the nearest stars.

In this incisive and perceptive biography, author David K. Love reveals the boundless mind and endless curiosity of Edmond Halley firmly cementing the legacy of the second Astronomer Royal among the first-rate scientists of his time.

Author Biography

David K Love is a member of the Royal Astronomical Society and holds a BSc honors degree from University College London. After a career as an accountant at British Telecom, he took early voluntary retirement to pursue his scientific interests and writing. He is the author of Kepler and the Universe, a biography of the famous 17th century German astronomer Johannes Kepler. He used to lecture frequently on the history of astronomy and on the origins and evolution of the Universe, but now finds that his grandchildren take up this time instead. Love lives in Exeter, in Devon, England.