It is, of course, well known that Professor Tait
subsequently brought out a most valuable elementary treatise on
Quaternions, to which those who are anxious to become acquainted with
the subject will often turn in preference to the tremendous work of
Hamilton.
In the year 1861 gratifying information came to hand of the progress
which the study of Quaternions was making abroad. Especially did the
subject attract the attention of that accomplished mathematician,
Moebius, who had already in his "Barycentrische Calculus" been led to
conceptions which bore more affinity to Quaternions than could be
found in the writings of any other mathematician. Such notices of
his work were always pleasing to Hamilton, and they served, perhaps,
as incentives to that still closer and more engrossing labour by
which he became more and more absorbed. During the last few years of
his life he was observed to be even more of a recluse than he had
hitherto been. His powers of long and continuous study seemed to
grow with advancing years, and his intervals of relaxation, such as
they were, became more brief and more infrequent.
It was not unusual for him to work for twelve hours at a stretch.
The dawn would frequently surprise him as he looked up to snuff his
candles after a night of fascinating labour at original research.
Pages:
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363