A General Table for Calculating the Motions of Comets in a Parabolical Orbit. - Edmond Halley

So that 'tis to the Greeks themselves as the Inventors (and especially to the Great Hipparchus) that we owe this Astronomy, which is now improv'd to such a Heigth. But yet, amongst these, the Opinion of Aristotle (who wou'd have Comets to be nothing else, but Sublunary Vapours, or Airy Meteors) prevailed so far, that this most difficult Part of the Astronomical Science lay altogether neglected; for no Body thought it worth while to take Notice of, or write about, the Wandring uncertain Motions of what they esteemed Vapours floating in the Æther; whence it came to pass, that nothing certain, concerning the Motion of Comets, can be found transmitted from them to us.

At length, came that prodigious Comet of the Year 1680, which descending (as it were) from an infinite Distance Perpendicularly towards the Sun, arose from him again with as great a Velocity.
This Comet, (which was Seen for Four Months continually) by the very remarkable and peculiar Curvity of its Orbit (above all others) gave the fittest Occasion for investigating the Theory of the Motion. And the Royal Observatories at Paris and Greenwich having been for some time founded, and committed to the Care of most excellent Astronomers, the apparent Motion of this Comet was most accurately (perhaps as far as Humane Skill cou'd go) observ'd by Mrs. Cassini and Flamsteed.

Yet almost all the Astronomers differ'd from this Opinion of Seneca; neither did Seneca himself think fit to set down those Phænomena of the Motion, by which he was enabled to maintain his Opinion: Nor the Times of those Appearances, which might be of use to Posterity, in order to the Determining these Things. And indeed, upon the Turning over very many Histories of Comets, I find nothing at all that can be of Service in this Affair, before, A.D. 1337, at which time , a Constantinopolitan Historian and Astronomer, did pretty accurately describe the Path of a Comet amongst the Fix'd Stars, but was too laxe as to the Account of the Time; so that this most doubtful and uncertain Comet, only deserves to be inserted in our Catalogue, for the sake of its appearing near 400 Years ago.