Abstract
THAT Prof. Tait should not be able to do justice to those who prefer to treat vectors as vectors, and quaternions as quaternions, instead of commingling their diverse natures, with the result, in the latter case, of confusion of physical ideas (and geometrical also, for of course geometry is itself ultimately a physical science, having an experiential foundation), is naturally to be expected. He does not know their ways, either of thinking or of working, as is abundantly evident in all that he has written adversely to Prof. Willard Gibbs and others. It is, however, a little strange, in view of Prof. Tait's often expressed conservatism regarding Quaternionics, that he should tolerate any innovations therein, such as Mr. MacAulay has introduced. The latter may perhaps take this as a compliment to his analytical powers, which compel the former's admiration, and toleration of his departures from quaternionic usage. For myself, I welcome any quaternionic innovations that may (ultimately) tend in the direction of the standpoint assumed by Prof. Gibbs and others, and foresaw some two years since (when a very bulky manuscript came to me for my opinion) that there would be some quaternionic upstirring.
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HEAVISIDE, O. Quaternionic Innovations. Nature 49, 246 (1894). https://doi.org/10.1038/049246a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/049246a0
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