The cause- or causes-of the excitation of the Chandler wobble is one of the most intriguing problems in geophysics. As a result of one of the most valuable examples of an international programme, the positions of the pole have been determined since the late 19th century with remarkable accuracy. These data have always been accepted as of great importance in the study of the atmosphere, oceans and solid Earth. Recently, new techniques have greatly improved the accuracy with which the polar motion can be determined. Interpretation of the older data was made much more difficult because of their errors-for example the interesting suggestion that earthquakes were a cause of the excitation (by D. E. Smylie and L. Manshinha) could not be tested because their effects, if any, were lost in the noise. With the great improvement in the data it is now possible to suppose that comparable advances will be made in the theoretical interpretation. A discussion meeting at the Royal Astronomical Society on 8 May, 1987 on this topic was held and the following gives a short survey of this topic, consisting of brief summaries given by the speakers. This review is therefore a collective one which it is hoped will make more widely known these great technical advances and to fundamental interest of the phenomena of thepolar motion.