William Rowan Hamilton
William Hamilton | |
|---|---|
 William Rowan Hamilton | |
| Born | 4 August 1805 Dublin, Ireland |
| Died | 2 September 1865 Dublin, Ireland |
| Nationality | Irish, Scottish origin |
| Alma mater | Trinity College Dublin |
| Known for | Quaternion and Hamiltonian |
| Scientific career | |
| Doctoral advisor | John Brinkley |
William Rowan Hamilton (4 August 1805 – 2 September 1865) was an Irish mathematician, physicist and astronomer. He made important contributions to the development of optics, dynamics, mathematics, geometry and algebra. His discovery of quaternions is the most famous work. His work was important in the development of quantum mechanics. Hamilton's talent was discovered very early by the astronomer John Brinkley. In 1823, when Hamilton was eighteen, John Brinkley said: "I don't say he would be but now he is the leading mathematician of his age". Hamilton was the first to introduce the term "vector", "association law".[1]
Reference
[change | change source]- ↑ "Earliest Known Uses of Some of the Words of Mathematics (V)". Archived from the original on 5 September 2015. Retrieved 15 June 2019.