Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 August 2017
It is generally recognised that the Working Group on the Rotation of the Earth that was set up after IAU Symposium No. 82 has successfully achieved its principal objectives, namely: “to make recommendations on … future international services on earth-rotation” and “to obtain and analyse data on earth-rotation by both current and new methods …”. In particular, by organising Project MERIT, it has stimulated the development and use of new techniques and it has brought together in fruitful collaboration scientists from many countries and disciplines. Other subsidiary objectives have also been achieved and the project has been extended through cooperation with the COTES Working Group on the terrestrial reference system. The possible reasons for this success are also reviewed in the expectation that the conclusions will be relevant to other future projects.