Talk:William Rowan Hamilton

Quote query

"He was subsequently educated by James Hamilton (curate of Trim), his uncle and an Anglican priest." - does this mean he was educated by his uncle, James Hamilton, who was an Anglican priest, or does it mean that he was educated by three people, James Hamilton, an unnamed uncle, and an unnamed Anglican priest??? 84.66.32.134 15:30, 23 Apr 2005 (UTC)

needs work

This entry needs a lot of work. For example:

In 1827, Hamilton presented a theory that provided a single function that brings together mechanics, optics and mathematics. It helped in establishing the wave theory of light. He proposed for it when he first predicted its existence in the third supplement to his "Systems of Rays," read in 1832.

What does proposed for it mean? Predicted the existence of WHAT??

For some reason there is a brief discussion of the incredibly important `Hamiltonian' approach to classical mechanics at the end of the section on quaternions. The Hamiltonian approach is vastly more important than the quaternions - and I say this as a huge fan of the quaternions. It should be treated together with his other work on dynamics.

First use of cis notation

Hamilton used and apparently coined the cis notation in his "Elements of Quaternions" first published in 1866.

To narrow the invention of this notation down in time, are there earlier works or notes where he (or someone else) had used this notation already? --Matthiaspaul (talk) 09:52, 23 July 2023 (UTC)

Nationality and Citizen ship

How can you justify having Irish nationality when it did not exist at the time of his existance. This is absurd. He was a Citizen of the UK (United Kingdom of Great Britian and Ireland) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 195.67.112.162 (talk) 14:54, 11 October 2023 (UTC)

Based on his writings, it is fairly clear that Hamilton considered himself Irish, and the geographic region and nation of Ireland existed within the UK at the time. It might be useful to read WP:UKNATIONALS if you are unfamiliar with how this is to be handled on Wikipedia. David Malone (talk) 19:28, 11 October 2023 (UTC)

No. Wrong. On your interpritation. He declined to have an Irish passport, keeping his British one. Ipso facto he was British and wikipedia should state facts not your interpritation or opinion. 78.70.161.206 (talk) 15:49, 16 October 2023 (UTC)

I can't say I've ever heard that, and I thought there were no Irish passports until the 1920s. Do you have a reference to support that? It seems that Hamilton did write (in a letter to Oscar Wilde's mother), "It was English history, not Irish which I was taught; and my heart still throbs with sympathy for that great British Empire to which, from childhood, I have been accustomed to consider myself as belonging as to my country - though Ireland, as Ireland, has always been the object of my love - and, I think you will admit, of my exertions." - You can find this in "Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton ...". He also wrote poetry about how he identified with Ireland. See Victorian Marriage: Sir William Rowan Hamilton, as one source for this. David Malone (talk)

The issue could be rendered moot if you consider Hamilton to be of Irish ethnicity rather than nationality. BMJ-pdx (talk) 07:09, 8 November 2024 (UTC)

Someone has edited the Infobox to remove the information, so it is presently moot anyway. David Malone (talk) 19:37, 9 November 2024 (UTC)

Discovery vs. invention

Are quaternions an invention or a discovery? The Quaternions section describes the algebra of quaternions first as a discovery, then later as a creation.

This leads to the more general question: What in mathematics is discovery and what is invention? I would contend that the constant pi is a discovery, whereas quaternions are an invention (also matrixes (matrices if you prefer)). Complex numbers seem (to me) to be more on the discovery side (given their near ubiquity, or at least a wide applicability). BMJ-pdx (talk) 07:04, 8 November 2024 (UTC)