Volume 4, geometry, analysis, astronomy, probability and finite differences, miscellaneous cambridge university press william rowan hamilton. He was an mathematician, physicist, and astronomer and made important works in optics, dynamics, and algebra. In judging hamiltons poems, one can perhaps do no better than quote wordsworths reaction to the earlier ones. The 150th anniversary of william rowan hamiltons death is on the 2nd september 2015.
Sir william rowan hamilton 18051865 portrait of hamilton from enterprise ireland portrait gallery, courtesy of enterprise ireland the life and works of hamilton. This collection consists of the mathematical papers of sir william rowan hamilton published during his lifetime, transcribed and edited by david r. William rowan hamilton irish mathematician hamilton, sir william rowan hamilton. Quoted in robert percival graves life of sir william rowan hamilton 1882 1889. Works by this author published before january 1, 1925 are in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago. Hamilton, william rowan dnb00 wikisource, the free. Sir william rowan hamilton, born august 34, 1805, dublin, irelanddied september 2, 1865, dublin, irish mathematician who contributed to the development of optics, dynamics, and algebrain particular, discovering the algebra of quaternions. The first page of the pdf of this article appears above. The mathematical papers of sir william rowan hamilton. The aim of this essay is to show that, contrary to this widespread belief, hamilton had a good marriage, that in fact large parts of his marriage were fairly happy. Sir william rowan hamilton quotes 10 science quotes. Download pdf life of sir william rowan hami free online.
Sir william rowan hamilton midnight, 34 august 1805 2 september 1865 was an irish physicist, astronomer, and mathematician, who made important contributions to classical mechanics, optics. Hamiltons father did not have a university education, and it is thought that hamiltons genius came from his mother, sarah hutton. Special collections in the john paul ii library holds three volumes of. General article sir william rowan hamilton life, achievements, stature in physics n mukunda his interests are classical and quantum mechanics, theoretical optics and mathematical physics. Sir william rowan hamilton irish mathematician hamilton, william rowan hamilton. He made important contributions to optics, classical mechanics and algebra. Hamilton, ireland, with pictures and collection and swap management. In 1833 he published a paper describing a characteristic function determining the behavior of rays.
Elements of quaternions sir william rowan hamilton. Life of sir william rowan hamilton, andrews professor of. The paper on a general method in dynamics has also been republished in the mathematical papers of sir william rowan hamilton, volume ii. Hamilton, william rowan, in dictionary of national biography, london. Sir william rowan hamilton 180565 was a distinguished irish mathematician who worked in the fields of classical mechanics, optics and algebra, as well as in physics and astronomy. Hamilton was the discoverer of quaternions, which are defined as a noncommutative number system which extends the complex numbers.
William rowan hamilton wikisource, the free online library. The picture below is a photograph of hamiltons icosian game that requires players to complete tours through the 20 points using only the specified connections. Although hamilton was not a physicisthe regarded himself as a pure. The irish mathematician, astronomer, and physicist sir william rowan hamilton made an enormous number of contributions to his elds.
Publication date 1980 topics hamilton, william rowan, sir, 18051865, mathematicians ireland biography. In this essay a sketch of her life is given, as far as that was possible from. Sir william rowan hamilton as a scholar who has long had an interest in william rowan hamilton 18051865 widely recognised as irelands most gifted scientist, i was very pleased to have a chance to read anne van weerdens a victorian marriage. Sir william rowan hamilton was one of the greatest scientists to be born in ireland. He spoke to his son of anticipated applications of quaternions to electricity, and to all questions in which the idea of. His best known contribution to mathematical physics is the reformulation of.
When he died some sixty years later he was without question the most famous irish scientist of his day. Ingram cambridge university press, cambridge, 1967. Detailed information about the coin 10 euro sir william r. Pronunciation of sir william rowan hamilton with 1 audio pronunciation, 3 synonyms, 5 translations. His analysis of motion anticipated several basic notions of relativity and quantum mechanics. The depth of his ideas which brought together the understanding of ray optics and classical mechanics, and the remarkable ways in which his work paved the way to the construction of. Sir william rowan hamilton 18051865 mu library treasures. William rowan hamilton was irelands greatest scientist. The spelling as groupe in the original text, has her been corrected to group to avoid an intrusive sic.
Keywords newtonian mechanics, euler lagrange equations, hamiltonian mechanics and optics, quaternions. Quoted in h eves mathematical circles revisited boston. His studies of mechanical and optical systems led him to discover new mathematical concepts and techniques. Gravess book remains the indispensible resource for hamiltons life. William rowan hamilton synonyms, william rowan hamilton pronunciation, william rowan hamilton translation, english dictionary definition of william rowan hamilton. By the age of five, william had already learned latin, greek, and hebrew. Sir william rowan hamilton article pdf available in bshm bulletin journal of the british society for the history of mathematics 331. William rowan hamilton definition of william rowan. W r hamilton discourse page 1 sir william rowan hamilton william rowan hamilton was born in dublins dominick street, at midnight on the 3rd of august 1805. This page is dedicated to the life and work of sir william rowan hamilton. Elements of quaternions sir william rowan hamilton full view 1866. The mathematical optics of sir william rowan hamilton.
Against the background of the development of physics, and in particular of mechanics, over the centuries since galileo and newton, we describe the life and work of william rowan hamilton in the 19th century. Sir william rowan hamilton midnight, 34 august 1805 2 september 1865 was an irish physicist, astronomer, and mathematician, who made important contributions to classical mechanics, optics, and algebra. Entrance page to a website about the private life of sir william rowan hamilton 18051865 who described himself as a labourloving and truthloving man. Life of sir william rowan hamilton, andrews professor of astronomy in the university of dublin, and royal astronomer of ireland, including selections from his poems, correspondence, and miscellaneous writings by graves, robert perceval. The irish mathematician, astronomer, and physicist sir william rowan hamilton made an enormous number of contributions to his fields. Who would not rather have the fame of archimedes than that of his conqueror marcellus. Graves, life of sir william rowan hamilton, 3 vols. Sir william rowan hamilton definition of sir william. R p graves 188291 life of sir william rowan hamiltondublin, hodges. William rowan hamilton from wikipedia, the free encyclopedia sir william rowan hamilton midnight, 34 august 1805 2 september 1865 was an irish physicist, astronomer, and mathematician, who made important contributions to classical mechanics, optics, and algebra. A complete bibliography of hamiltons published works appears at the end of vol. His work proved significant for the development of quantum mechanics hamilton was the son of a solicitor. Mathematical problems related to the traveling salesman problem were treated in the 1800s by the irish mathematician sir william rowan hamilton and by the british mathematician thomas penyngton kirkman.
Graves collected hamiltons papers and letters for his biography shortly after hamiltons death. Robert perceval graves life of sir william rowan hamilton, 3 bde. William rowan hamilton university of illinois library. He made important contreibutions tae optics, clessical mechanics an algebra. This unintentionally caused his biography to become the basis of hamiltons overall negative image. He was a linguist, a mathematician, an astronomer and a physicist all rolled into one and had contributed to a huge extent to the world of algebra, geometry, optics and dynamics. Catherine disney 18001853 was only known for having been the lost love of sir william rowan hamilton 1805 1865. His studies of mechanical and optical systems led him to discover.
Sir william rowan hamilton 18051865 spent the years 1835 to 1843 trying to develop a three dimensional number system based on triples of real numbers. Sir william rowan hamilton biography facts, childhood. Sir william rowan hamilton 18051865 mural maynooth. Hamilton, sir william rowan 18051865, mathematician, born in dublin at midnight, between 3 and 4 aug. The irish mathematical physicist sir william rowan hamilton 18051865 reshaped theoretical optics by basing it on his law of varying action.
With one exception, these papers are available here in an edition based on the original published text. As a result, these elds have immortalized hamilton in the numerous equations and concepts which bear his name. Yet the idea of hamilton as an alcoholic is so widely accepted that any one seems to be allowed to write anything about him as long as it fits the depressed view of him. Sir william rowan hamilton synonyms, sir william rowan hamilton pronunciation, sir william rowan hamilton translation, english dictionary definition of sir william rowan hamilton. However, he did succeed in developing a four dimensional number system, now called the quaternions and denoted.