Tentare licet. The Theresian Academy's question on the theory of beams of 1783 (Q1011816)

The paper gives a description of the four manuscript papers that were submitted for the annual competition of the Theresian Academy of the Austrian Netherlands in 1783. None of the papers solves the problem that was posed: to develop a theory of beams resting with both ends upon points of support, supposing the beams are ``most conform to nature, that is, as a collection of weighing, extensible and elastic fibers, united among each other over the whole length''. None of the four manuscripts solves the problem and all lack the required mathematical abstraction. Only one manuscript shows a more scientific approach and is the most extensive of the four. It is entitled ``Tentare licet'' and written in French (authors of all the four papers are unknown), but the paper is more situated in experimental physics than in mathematics. The main part of the present paper discusses the ``Tentare licet'' manuscript in detail.