Hamilton called his 4D numbers "quaternions," and he used them to calculate geometrical rotations in 3D space. This is the kind of rotation used today to move a robot, say, or orient a satellite.

I am asked whether the “spoonfeeding,” as he terms it, of Maxwell, Fitzgerald, &c., is not good enough for me. Why, of course not. It is quaternionic, and that is the real point concerned.

Irish physicist, astronomer, and mathematician Sir William Rowan Hamilton introduced quaternions, a non-commutative extension of complex numbers, on October 16, 1843.. Benjamin Olinde Rodrigues had ...

In 2018, Quaternion announced plans to expand its team after forming a strategic partnership with the US company. “Quaternion has been a trusted partner in our risk mitigation and management ...

On the other hand, Lord Kelvin declared that quaternions, “though beautifully ingenious, have been an unmixed evil to those who have touched them in any way, including Clerk Maxwell”.

Quaternions are vital for the control systems that guide aircraft and rockets. Let us think of an aircraft in flight. Changes in its orientation can be given by three rotations known as pitch, ...