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The Lunar Society was one of the most influential gatherings of intellectuals in the eighteenth century. The group of friends met informally every month on a Monday evening closest to the full moon. It is this singular astronomical connection from which the group of friends derived their collective noun - although they often referred to themselves as the ‘Lunaticks’ Matthew Boulton was the prime mover behind the moonlit gathering, and most people today know him as the great manufacturer of Birmingham and the partner of James Watt. His friend and fellow Lunatick James Keir once observed that electricity and astronomy were at one time among Matthew Boulton’s favourite amusements. The question for the author with an interest in astronomy, living only a few miles from Boulton’s home, was just how much of an interest in astronomy did Boulton and the other Lunar Society members have?

The book is an account of Andrew Lound’s research into Matthew Boulton’s, and his friends,’ interests in astronomy, discovering Matthew Boulton’s design for an astronomical observatory, and snippets of information on one of his favourite amusements.

LUNATICK ASTRONOMY: The Astronomical Activities of the Lunar Society

By Andrew P B Lound

2nd Edition Published 2009 by Odyssey DL Publications

ISBN 978-0-9561111-1-1