INTRODUCTION:

 

Sir. William Rowan Hamilton son of Archibald Hamilton, lawyer, and Sarah Hutton and the youngest of three brothers and a sister, Hamilton was born in Dublin, was long considered a small child prodigy. Taking from his three-year-old started his education with his uncle, the Rev. James Hamilton, a linguist who spoke several languages ​​like Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Sanskrit, etc.. Hamilton learned to speak several languages​​. It is said that at thirteen Hamilton spoke many languages ​​as their age. Beyond most classical and modern European languages​​, still spoke Arabic, Persian, Hindustani, Sanskrit and even Malay.

Hamilton's mother died when he was twelve and his father two years later and he was given up for adoption. He began his studies in mathematics when at age ten reads Euclid's Elements in Latin. Past two years know a child prodigy Zerah Colburn of mathematics which was displayed as a curiosity in Dublin. This meeting instigates him to devote himself mainly to abandon mathematics and language studies. Reads the Arithmetica Universalis Newton, who was his introduction to modern analysis. Later starts reading Principia Mathematica and 16 years have dominated much of this work, and other modern works on analytical geometry and differential calculus. In this period, Hamilton prepares its entry to Trinity College, Dublin, where the teacher would come.

 

DEVELOPMENT:

 

Hamilton to his 17-year-old begins the systematic study of celestial mechanics of Laplace which was an essential work in the future development of his work. He encounters an error in one of the statements in this book and develops a correct statement. Encouraged by a friend, send this result to John Brinkley, Astronomer Royal of Ireland and great mathematician. Brinkley impressed by his talent offers to help in their studies. 

Hamilton's mathematical studies seem to have been undertaken and carried to their full development without any assistance whatsoever, and the result is that his writings do not belong to any particular "school". Not only was Hamilton an expert as an arithmetic calculator, but he seems to have occasionally had fun in working out the result of some calculation to an enormous number of decimal places. At the age of eight Hamilton engaged Zerah Colburn, the American "calculating boy", who was then being exhibited as a curiosity in Dublin. Two years later, aged ten, Hamilton stumbled across a Latin copy of Euclid, which he eagerly devoured; and at twelve he studied Newton’s Arithmetica Universalis. This was his introduction to modern analysis. Hamilton soon began to read the Principia, and at sixteen Hamilton had mastered a great part of it, as well as some more modern works on analytical geometry and the differential calculus. 

By this time Hamilton was also preparing to enter Trinity College Dublin and therefore had to devote some time to classics. In mid-1822, began a systematic study of celestial mechanics of Laplace. Thereafter Hamilton seems to have been devoted almost entirely to mathematics, although he always remained well acquainted with the progress of science, both in Britain and abroad. Hamilton found a major defect in one of the manifestations of Laplace, and he was induced by a friend to write their comments, so that they could be shown to Dr. John Brinkley, and then the first Astronomer Royal of Ireland, and a mathematical recognized. Brinkley seems to have immediately perceived talents of Hamilton. Hamilton in his academic career in college was perhaps unprecedented. Among an extraordinary number of competitors, he was first in all subjects and in each test. He has achieved the rare distinction of obtaining a optime both to Greeks and to physics. Hamilton could have reached many more honors, he was expected to win two gold medals at the degree examination. 

On July 7, 1823, the young Hamilton took first place in the application of Dublin Trinity College examinations, which will be a brilliant student, until he is granted at 22 years the post of Astronomer Royal of Ireland left vacant by John Brinkley. His reputation preceded him and he quickly became a celebrity. Your field of classics and mathematics, while still not had graduated, excited the curiosity of academic circles. The story of his triumphs before their graduation can be understood-he almost always got the best grades in both the classics as in mathematics. But the most important thing was to have it completed the first version of the article on the rays, which despite not having been accepted for publication systems impressed his superiors.

At twenty -three years old, Hamilton published the development of the work begun at seventeen , article, A Theory of Systems of Rays , Part I, the great classic that develops in the optical methods of analytical mechanics . The techniques introduced by Hamilton in his first masterpiece today are indispensable in physics and mathematics. This magnificent work led Jacobi , fourteen years later , at the British Association of Manchester, in 1842 , declared that " Hamilton is the Lagrange of his country " ( referring to the UK ) . In it he defines and uses what will be named in his honor in Hamiltonian physics, which has a huge benefit to the development of quantum mechanics and quantum field theory . Many consider this success as the highest point of the career of Hamilton . Others considered the greatest work of Hamilton were still to come , which is the creation of what Hamilton considered as his masterpiece : the theory of quaternions .

 

CONCLUDING REMARKS:

 

Sir. William Rowan Ramilton was a mathematician, physicist and astronomer who contributed irish fundamental to the development of optics, dynamics and algebra to work today. Their findings are useful for the present science as having one of the most important and well known in mathematics are quaternions. Physics is well known for his work in analytical mechanics, which came to be influential and of great assistance in the areas of quantum mechanics and quantum field theory. In his honor are designated Hamiltonian, which he invented.

 

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Biographies/Hamilton.html

http://132.187.98.10:8080/encyclopedia/en/hamiltonWilliam.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Rowan_Hamilton