Sir William Rowan Hamilton

Thomas L. Hankins is a professor emeritus of the history of science at the University of Washington.

By a combination of exacting scholarship and distinguished writing, Hankins has produced a book which is both an important record and a marvelous read. -- I. Grattan-Guinness Annals of Science An interesting, well-written biography of the great nineteenth-century mathematician. -- Burnett Meyer Mathematical Reviews Hankins has given [Hamilton] the detailed biography that he merits. The author integrates his discussions of Hamilton's poetic, metaphysical and mathematical facets to provide a balanced picture of a complex individual against the background of the religious, philosophical, political, and social movements of the time. Library Journal Thomas Hankins has given us much more than just a good biography of a leading scientific personality of the 19th century, although that it certainly is... Thorough in the scientific aspects of his book, the author also deals substantially with the philosophical, religious, and political events that bore so heavily on Hamilton's work and personal life. -- Brian D. Murphy Oak Ridge National Laboratory Review [A] most welcome general biography of Hamilton... an interesting account of a fascinating life. -- P. A. Wayman Irish Astronomical Journal Hankins' biography is analytic... comprehensive, and ambitiously aimed at integrating all the facets of Hamilton's richly productive but troubled life... In the difficult genre of scientific biography, where good books are rare, Hankins's Hamilton is excellent. -- Michael J. Crowe Science Hankins's treatment of Hamilton's works is always clear and concise. His biography displays a mastery of the technical details of Hamilton's mathematics as well as an understanding of the origins of Hamilton's ideas... This biography is extraordinarily well written and a pleasure to read. -- Henry John Steffens American Historical Review

• IllustrationsAcknowledgmentsIntroductionI. Birth and Education1. Early Years2. Trinity College and Dunsink Observatory3. Life at the ObservatoryII. Ray Optics4. The "Theory of Systems of Rays"5. Creating the "Theory of Systems of Rays"6. Conical RefractionIII. Marriage7. Philosophical Romance8. Helen BaylyIV. Light and Dynamics9. Theories of Light10. Optics at the British Association11. The Luminiferous Aether12. The Metaphysical Foundations of Mechanics13. The General Method in Dynamics14. The Fate of the Optical-Mechanical AnalogyV. Politics and Religion15. Reform and Religious Turmoil16. In and Out of the Oxford MovementVI. "Algebra as the Science of Pure Time"17. The Foundations of Algebra and the Coleridgean View of Science18. "Algebra as the Science of Pure time"19. The Kantian Content of the "Essay on Algebra as the Science of Pure Time"20. The Equation of the Fifth DegreeVII. Quarternions21. From Algebraic Couples to Quaternions22. The Creation of Quarternions23. The Fate of Quarternions24. The Hodograph and the Icosian CalculusVIII. Last Years25. Catherine Disney Barlow26. The End of a Career27. Hamilton and Nineteenth-Century ScienceAppendix: The Equations of Conjugation and Logarithms of Number CouplesAbbreviations Used in the NotesNotesBibliographical EssayIndex