As Newton neared the completion of his masterwork, Halley approached the Royal Society with the proposition that they publish it. The society would under normal circumstances have been only too happy to pay for its publication. However, it had unwisely exhausted all its publication funds on another book. This was the long-awaited History of Fish.

As Newton neared the completion of his masterwork, Halley approached the Royal Society with the proposition that they publish it. The societ...

Halley's interests were now more eclectic then ever. He devised the firs weather map (...). He attempted to measure the size of the atom. He made valuable observations about magnetism, heat, air, plants, seashells, clocks, caviar, light, Roman history, aerodynamics, the habbits of cuttlefish, and a method of keeping flounder alive for midwinter retailing. (These last two efforts were perhaps inspired by all those copies of The History of Fish.)

Halley's interests were now more eclectic then ever. He devised the firs weather map (...). He attempted to measure the size of the atom. He...

The comet of the year 79 was said to portend the death of the Emperor Vespasian, who had already found himself involved with cometary portent. (...) Vespasian in this case expressed a healthy skepticism. "That hairy star does not portend evil to me," he said. "It menaces, rather, the King of the Parthians," his longtime adversary. "He is a hairy man," Vespasian explained, "I am bald." His skepticism did not save him, though, and he did the same year.

The comet of the year 79 was said to portend the death of the Emperor Vespasian, who had already found himself involved with cometary porten...