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Sir William Rowan Hamilton MRIA (3 August 1805 – 2 September 1865) was an Irish mathematician, Andrews Professor of Astronomy at Trinity College Dublin, and Royal Astronomer of Ireland. He worked in both pure mathematics and mathematics for physics. He made important contributions to optics, classical mechanics and algebra. Although Hamilton was not a physicist–he regarded himself as a pure mathematician–his work was of major importance to physics, particularly his 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 pure mathematics, he is best known as the inventor of quaternions.[1]
Helen Bayly married William Rowan Hamilton (1805–1865) on 9 April 1833 at Ballinaclough, Ireland. The marriage was announced in the Belfast Newsletter of 16 April 1833:
- At Ballinaclough Church on Easter Tuesday, William Rowan Hamilton Esq. Royal Astronomer of Ireland to Helen Maria, daughter of the late Rev. Henry Bayly, Rector of Nenagh.[2]
They had three children:
- William Edwin Hamilton 1834–1902
- Archibald Henry Hamilton 1835–1914[3]
- Helen Eliza Amelia Hamilton 1840–1870
His marriage is described dismally in Math and mathematicians : the history of math discoveries around the world:
- [Having had two marriage proposals rejected, in 1833] "Hamilton married Helen Marie Bayly, a country preacher's daughter. Although they had three children together, his wife proved not only to be chronically ill but extremely pious, shy, and timid. Since she was also unable to run a household, Hamilton's married life was both difficult and unhappy."[4]
Anne van Weerden, a Dutch researcher, disagrees that he was an "an unhappily married alcoholic". She noted "His own description of the discovery of the quaternions, which he made when he was walking with his wife, breathes such a peaceful atmosphere that it became the inducement to investigate how an alleged unhappy marriage could lead to such a circumstance." Her 2017 essay, A Victorian Marriage : Sir William Rowan Hamilton, shows "that he did have a good marriage, and that according to current standards he was by no means an alcoholic."[5]
Sources
- ↑ Wikipedia: William Rowan Hamilton
- ↑ Linen Hall Library; Belfast, Northern Ireland; Periodicals & Newspapers, Irish & Reference retrieved through ancestry.com
- ↑ British Newspaper Archive notices for the death of Rev Archibald Hamiton
- ↑ Bruno, Leonard C. (2003) [1999]. Math and mathematicians : the history of math discoveries around the world. Baker, Lawrence W. Detroit, Mich.: U X L. p. 209 retrieved through archive.org (free registration required)
- ↑ Weerden, Anne van. "A Victorian Marriage." The private life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton (1805-1865), Anne van Weerden, http://www.annevanweerden.nl/VictorianMarriage.html.
- Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton, Andrews professor of astronomy in the University of Dublin, and Royal astronomer of Ireland, including selections from his poems, correspondence, and miscellaneous writings by Graves, Robert Perceval; De Morgan, Augustus. Publication date 1882-89. Retrieved through archive.org
- Bruno, Leonard C. (2003) [1999]. Math and mathematicians : the history of math discoveries around the world. Baker, Lawrence W. Detroit, Mich.: U X L. p. 207 retrieved through archive.org (free registration required)
- Wikidata: Item Q11887, en:Wikipedia
See also:
