Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Great Astronomers: William Rowan Hamilton
    Great Astronomers: William Rowan Hamilton
    Great Astronomers: William Rowan Hamilton
    Ebook36 pages31 minutes

    Great Astronomers: William Rowan Hamilton

    By Robert Stawell Ball

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Sir William Rowan Hamilton (1805–1865) was an Irish physicist, astronomer, and mathematician who made important contributions to mechanics, optics, and algebra. As a teenager, he mastered parts of Newton's Principia and studied Laplace's celestial mechanics treatise. When barely 22, Hamilton became a professor of astronomy at University of Dublin, however he was more interested in theoretical rather than practical astronomy.

    His studies of mechanical and optical systems led him to discover new mathematical concepts and techniques. His greatest contribution is perhaps the reformulation of Newtonian mechanics, now called Hamiltonian mechanics. This work has proven central to the modern study of classical field theories such as electromagnetism, and to the development of quantum mechanics.

    In mathematics, he is perhaps best known as the inventor of the quaternion, which is a mathematical concept that find uses in both theoretical and applied mathematics, in particular for calculations involving three-dimensional rotations such as in three-dimensional computer graphics, computer vision, and the attitude-control systems of spacecraft.

    Hamilton is said to have shown immense talent at a very early age. He had a remarkable aptitude for languages as a youth.As a young man, his talents turned to mathematics of astronomy and physics. Astronomer John Brinkley remarked of the 18-year-old Hamilton, "This young man, I do not say will be, but is, the first mathematician of his age."

    (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Rowan_Hamilton)

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBooklassic
    Release dateJun 29, 2015
    ISBN9789635266685
    Great Astronomers: William Rowan Hamilton

    Read more from Robert Stawell Ball

    Related to Great Astronomers

    Related ebooks

    Physics For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    Related categories

    Reviews for Great Astronomers

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Great Astronomers - Robert Stawell Ball

      978-963-526-668-5

      Chapter 1

      The Early Years

      WILLIAM ROWAN HAMILTON was born at midnight between the 3rd and 4th of August, 1805, at Dublin, in the house which was then 29, but subsequently 36, Dominick Street. His father, Archibald Hamilton, was a solicitor, and William was the fourth of a family of nine. With reference to his descent, it may be sufficient to notice that his ancestors appear to have been chiefly of gentle Irish families, but that his maternal grandmother was of Scottish birth. When he was about a year old, his father and mother decided to hand over the education of the child to his uncle, James Hamilton, a clergyman of Trim, in County Meath. James Hamilton's sister, Sydney, resided with him, and it was in their home that the days of William's childhood were passed.

      In Mr. Graves' "Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton, a series of letters will be found, in which Aunt Sydney details the progress of the boy to his mother in Dublin. Probably there is no record of an infant prodigy more extraordinary than that which these letters contain. At three years old his aunt assured the mother that William is a hopeful blade, but at that time it was his physical vigour to which she apparently referred ; for the proofs of his capacity, which she adduces, related to his prowess in making boys older than himself fly before him. In the second letter, a month later, we hear that William is brought in to read the Bible for the purpose of putting to shame other boys double his age who could not read nearly so well. Uncle James appears to have taken much pains with William's schooling, but his aunt said that how he picks up everything is astonishing, for he never stops playing and jumping about. When he was four years and three months old, we hear that he went out to dine at the vicar's, and amused the company by reading for them equally well whether the book was turned upside down or held in any other fashion. His aunt assures the mother that Willie is a most sensible little creature, but at the same time has a great deal of roguery." At four years and five months old he came up to pay his mother a visit in town, and she writes to her sister a description of the boy :—

      "His reciting is astonishing, and his clear and accurate knowledge of geography is beyond belief ; he even draws the countries with a pencil on paper, and will

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1