Hamilton Walk facts for kids
The Hamilton Walk is a special event that happens every year on October 16. It goes from Dunsink Observatory to Broom Bridge in Dublin, Ireland. This date is important because it's the anniversary of a big discovery made in 1843. On that day, a famous mathematician named William Rowan Hamilton discovered something called quaternions. He figured it out while walking with his wife along the Royal Canal.
Quaternions are a new kind of math system. They are "non-commutative," which means that the order you multiply things in matters. For example, in regular math, 2 x 3 is the same as 3 x 2. But with quaternions, A x B is not always the same as B x A!
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The Hamilton Walk: A Journey Through Math History
The Hamilton Walk started in 1990. It was created by Professor Tony O'Farrell, a math expert from St Patrick's College, Maynooth. The walk begins at Dunsink Observatory, where Hamilton lived and worked for many years. He was the director there from 1827 to 1865.
The walk finishes at Broom Bridge. This is the exact spot where Hamilton had his "aha!" moment. He was so excited that he carved a special math equation into the bridge:
This equation shows the basic rules for quaternions.
Remembering a Great Discovery
Hamilton's original carving is no longer on the bridge. But there is a special plaque there now. The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) put it up in 1958. The plaque was officially revealed by Éamon de Valera, who was the leader of Ireland at the time. It helps everyone remember Hamilton's amazing discovery.
Many famous mathematicians have joined the Hamilton Walk over the years. Some of them have won very important awards. These include Wolf Prize winner Roger Penrose and Abel Prize winner Andrew Wiles. Even Nobel Prize winners like Murray Gell-Mann and Steven Weinberg have participated. Their presence shows how important Hamilton's discovery is in the world of science and math.
In 2018, Professor Anthony O’Farrell and Fiacre Ó Cairbre received an award from Maths Week Ireland. They were honored for helping people learn more about math by starting the Hamilton Walk.
Why Quaternions Are Important
Some people believe that the discovery of quaternions changed math forever. Before quaternions, mathematicians mostly worked with systems where the order of numbers didn't matter. But quaternions showed that there could be new math systems with different rules. This idea helped create what we now call "modern algebra."
Because of this, the end of the Hamilton Walk at Broom Bridge is seen as the exact place where modern algebra began. It's a truly historic spot for mathematics!
The Hamilton Way
There is also a plan for something called the Hamilton Way. This would be a path for walking and cycling. It would follow the same route as the Hamilton Walk, connecting Dunsink Observatory to the Royal Canal.
