William Rowan Hamilton Quotes & Sayings

I regard it as an inelegance, or imperfection, in quaternions, or rather in the state to which it has been hitherto unfolded, whenever it becomes or seems to become necessary to have recourse to x, y, z, etc.. — William Rowan Hamilton

Who would not rather have the fame of Archimedes than that of his conqueror Marcellus? — William Rowan Hamilton

Time is said to have only one dimension, and space to have three dimensions ... The mathematical quaternion partakes of both these elements; in technical language it may be said to be 'time plus space', or 'space plus time': and in this sense it has, or at least involves a reference to, four dimensions. And how the One of Time, of Space the Three, Might in the Chain of Symbols girdled be. — William Rowan Hamilton