Details
HAMILTON, William Rowan (1805-1865). Lectures on Quaternions: Containing a Systematic Statement of a New Mathematical Method. Dublin: Hodges & Smith, 1853.
8o (212 x 134 mm). Text diagrams. Later plum morocco, elaborately stamped in blind, gilt edges (rebacked, preserving original spine).
FIRST EDITION. Hamilton's major contribution to mathematics, quaternions, the linear algebra of rotations in space of three dimensions, came to him in a flash of inspiration on 16 October 1843, after 22 years spent searching for a system of expressing hypercomplex numbers that would give a "natural" algebraic representation of three-dimensional space. Hamilton's quaternions were important in the development of later noncommutative algebra such as matrices and vector analysis. PMM 334; Norman 985.
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FIRST EDITION. Hamilton's major contribution to mathematics, quaternions, the linear algebra of rotations in space of three dimensions, came to him in a flash of inspiration on 16 October 1843, after 22 years spent searching for a system of expressing hypercomplex numbers that would give a "natural" algebraic representation of three-dimensional space. Hamilton's quaternions were important in the development of later noncommutative algebra such as matrices and vector analysis. PMM 334; Norman 985.