Quaternion Born
The project aim was to commission a piece that celebrates the life and work of Irish Mathematician, William Rowan Hamilton, while taking a close consideration into his discovery of Quaternion Algebra, in a way which would interest the general public. This was important in the development of modern abstract algebra and remains useful in calculating rotations of solid bodies. The equation underpins a multitude of technological advances including satellite navigation, computer programming, robotics, bioinformatics, computer simulations and molecular dynamics.
The project aim was to commission a piece that celebrates the life and work of Irish Mathematician, William Rowan Hamilton, while taking a close consideration into his discovery of Quaternion Algebra, in a way which would interest the general public. This was important in the development of modern abstract algebra and remains useful in calculating rotations of solid bodies. The equation underpins a multitude of technological advances including satellite navigation, computer programming, robotics, bioinformatics, computer simulations and molecular dynamics.
Considering most of the general public (including me) can't quite grasp what quaternions are, I used Hamilton's colourful description of what they are as a long running quote throughout the book, starting with the front cover. "The quaternion [was] born, as a curious offspring of a quaternion of parents, say of geometry, algebra, metaphysics, and poetry." (These different areas of mathematics and art are shown in contrasting typefaces to display the variety).
I chose these tiles as part of the cover as I wanted to resemble stone, to give a nod towards Hamilton’s carving of the formula at Broombridge. Mostly, it ties in with quaternions involvement with progressing our knowledge of outer space - the tiles look retro-futuristic. The grey hexagon tiles in close proximity to each other resemble heat reflectors on a spaceship or aircraft. The images used in the book are linked to the posters for the Luas campaign. The posters resemble the radio technology Forward Scatter method, the way quaternion belts are visualised and part of meteor readers found in Dunsink Observatory. The images are much easier to draw the general public in to find out about Hamilton and his discoveries rather than jumping head-in to the mathematics.
I chose these tiles as part of the cover as I wanted to resemble stone, to give a nod towards Hamilton’s carving of the formula at Broombridge. Mostly, it ties in with quaternions involvement with progressing our knowledge of outer space - the tiles look retro-futuristic. The grey hexagon tiles in close proximity to each other resemble heat reflectors on a spaceship or aircraft. The images used in the book are linked to the posters for the Luas campaign. The posters resemble the radio technology Forward Scatter method, the way quaternion belts are visualised and part of meteor readers found in Dunsink Observatory. The images are much easier to draw the general public in to find out about Hamilton and his discoveries rather than jumping head-in to the mathematics.
