[1] McAulay took his degree in 1886,[2] and began to reflect on the instruction of students in quaternion theory.
As a distant correspondent, he participated in a vigorous debate about the place of quaternions in physics education.
In 1898 McAulay published, through Cambridge University Press, his Octonions: a Development of Clifford's Biquaternions.
His brother Francis Macaulay, who stayed in England, also contributed to ring theory.
The University of Tasmania has commemorated the McAulays' contributions in Winter Public Lectures.