Quaternion Plaque on Broombridge
A photo of the quaternion plaque on Broombridge. William Rowan Hamilton discovered his famous mathematical formula for multiplying quaternions on 16 October 1843 while walking along the towpath of the Royal Canal with his wife. He later claimed to have carved the formula on a stone on Broombridge. This plaque commemorates the occasion.
Photograph by Jonathan Campbell, used with permission: www.jgcampbell.comQuaternion Plaque on Broombridge
Photograph by Jonathan Campbell, used with permission: www.jgcampbell.com
Photograph by Jonathan Campbell, used with permission: www.jgcampbell.com
Quaternion Plaque on Broombridge
A photo of the quaternion plaque on Broombridge. William Rowan Hamilton discovered his famous mathematical formula for multiplying quaternions on 16 October 1843 while walking along the towpath of the Royal Canal with his wife. He later claimed to have carved the formula on a stone on Broombridge. This plaque commemorates the occasion.
Photograph by Jonathan Campbell, used with permission: www.jgcampbell.comWilliam Rowan Hamilton is most famous for his theory of 'quaternions'. This is a complex mathematical formula that is still widely used today. It is often used by computer scientists to create the 3D computer graphics that you see when you play modern computer games.
The formula came to Hamilton, after many years of research, while walking near the Royal Canal with his wife Helen. He quickly scribbled it down in a notebook and, in his excitement, also carved it on the stone bridge over the canal at Broombridge. A plaque at the site of the discovery commemorates the occasion. In 1989, a group of mathematicians took a walk from Dunsink observatory to the bridge. The walk has since become an annual event.
Hamilton spent his final years developing the theory of quaternions. His second book on the subject took much longer than he had planned, because it became longer and longer as new ideas occurred to him. As a result, the Hamilton family fell into financial difficulties. Due to a serious illness, Hamilton died in September 1865.
William Rowan Hamilton is still remembered as one of Ireland's greatest scientists to have lived. Indeed, he is also one of the greatests scientists to have lived generally. The impact of his work on the world of science continues unabated, with terms such as 'Hamiltonian' used regularly by mathematicians and physicists to this day. He was recognised with a knighthood in 1835, and received many other honours and distinctions during his lifetime.