He was also a mathematician , meteorologist , and physicist . Halley is best known for computing the orbit of the comet named after him : Halley 's Comet . Edmond Halley FRS ( 8 November 1656 â `` 14 January 1742 ) was an English astronomer , geophysicist , mathematician , meteorologist , and physicist who is best known for computing the orbit of the eponymous Halley 's comet .