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The Royal Society: Science in the Making

Unpublished paper, 'An inquiry into the cause of the lunar librations and the reality of its motion about its centre of gravity or axis - in which it will appear that this rotary motion of the moon is entirely imaginary and that the librations of the moon have never been explained' by unknown author

Reference number: AP/16/3

Date: 1835

Description

A theoretical paper proposing that the moon has no rotation about any axis through its own centre of gravity.

Subject: Astronomy

Reference number
AP/16/3
Earliest possible date
1835
Physical description
Ink on paper
Page extent
43 pages
Format
Manuscript

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Citation

Unpublished paper, 'An inquiry into the cause of the lunar librations and the reality of its motion about its centre of gravity or axis - in which it will appear that this rotary motion of the moon is entirely imaginary and that the librations of the moon have never been explained' by unknown author, 1835, AP/16/3, The Royal Society Archives, London, https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/ap_16_3/unpublished-paper-an-inquiry-into-the-cause-of-the-lunar-librations-and-the-reality-of-its-motion-about-its-centre-of-gravity-or-axis-in-which-it-will-appear-that-this-rotary-motion-of-the-moon-is-entirely-imaginary-and-that-the-librations-of-the-moon-have-never-been-explained-by-unknown-author, accessed on 23 January 2026

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https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/ap_16_3/unpublished-paper-an-inquiry-into-the-cause-of-the-lunar-librations-and-the-reality-of-its-motion-about-its-centre-of-gravity-or-axis-in-which-it-will-appear-that-this-rotary-motion-of-the-moon-is-entirely-imaginary-and-that-the-librations-of-the-moon-have-never-been-explained-by-unknown-author

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  • Archived Papers

    The 'Archived Papers' collection is comprised of original manuscript scientific papers and letters submitted to the Royal Society which remained unpublished or were abstracted in the journal 'Proceedings of the Royal Society' published from 1830 onwards.

    Dates: 1768 - 1989

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