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Using his theory of cometary orbits Halley calculated that the comet of 1682 was periodic.
Halley was a graduate of Oxford and he became a member of the Royal Society at the age of 22.
From the island of Saint Helena, he catalogued (1676-78) the positions of about 350 Southern Hemisphere stars and observed a transit of Mercury. He proposed using transits of Mercury and Venus to determine the distance of the Sun. Using his theory of cometary orbits he calculated that the comet of 1682 (now called Halley's comet) was periodic, and predicted that it would return in 76 years. In 1710, using Ptolemy's catalogue, he deduced that the stars must have small motions of their own and he was able to detected this proper motion in three stars.
Halley was appointed Savilian professor of geometry at Oxford in 1704. In 1720 he succeeded John Flamsteed as Astronomer Royal. At the Greenwich Observatory he used the first transit instrument and devised a method for determining longitude at sea by means of lunar observations.
Halley's other activities ranged from studying archaeology to serving as deputy controller of the mint at Chester. He was an integral part of the English scientific community at the height of its creativity.
Halley played an active role in the events and controversies of his time. He supported Newton in his controversy with Leibniz over who invented the calculus, serving as secretary of a committee set up by the Royal Society to resolve the dispute. Halley also pacified the astronomer Johannes Hevelius regarding the disputed accuracy of methods for measuring stellar positions, and fell out with Flamsteed by plotting with Newton to publish Flamsteed's observations long before they were complete.
However Halley's greatest contribution to mathematics may be that he was instrumental in persuading Newton to publish his work. But for Halley the Principia , often described as the greatest scientific book, may never have been written.
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Tell me about Halley's role in developing the theory of gravitation
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