the properties of generated and well-formedness were described by norman carey and david clampitt in "aspects of well-formed scales" (1989), (johnson, 2003, p. 151.) in earlier (1975) work, theoretician erv wilson defined the properties of the idea, and called such a scale a "mos", an acronym for "moment of symmetry". while unpublished, this terminology became widely known and used in the microtonal music community.