Hamilton Walk

This is the anniversary of the day in 1843 when William Rowan Hamilton discovered the non-commutative algebraic system known as quaternions, while walking with his wife along the banks of the Royal Canal.

[3] It starts at DIAS Dunsink Observatory, where Hamilton lived and was the Director from 1827 to 1865, and ends at the spot where he recorded his discovery by carving the following equation on Broom Bridge:[4] These are the basic relations which define the quaternions.

The original inscription by Hamilton is no longer there, but a plaque erected by the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) and unveiled by the Taoiseach Éamon de Valera in 1958 marks the spot where he recorded his discovery.

O’Farrell and Ó Cairbre received the 2018 Maths Week Ireland Award for "outstanding work in raising public awareness of mathematics" resulting from the founding and nurturing of the Hamilton walk.

[3] It has been argued that the discovery of the quaternions, by revealing deep mathematical structures that did not obey the commutative law, allowed mathematicians to create new systems unbound by the rules of ordinary arithmetic.