Sir William Rowan Hamilton(1805-1865)was o an Irish physicist,astronomer,and mathematician, o made important contributions to classical mechanics, geometric optics,and algebra. His greatest contribution is perhaps the reformulation of Newtonian mechanics,now called Hamiltonian mechanics. o This work has proven central to the modern study of classical field theories such as electromagnetism,and to the development of quantum mechanics. o In mathematics,he is perhaps best known as the inventor of quaternions. 口9+二+生42刀风0 张样：上海交通大学数学系 第十八讲、前沿探索：Hamilton系统初步Sir William Rowan Hamilton(1805–1865) was an Irish physicist, astronomer, and mathematician, made important contributions to classical mechanics, geometric optics, and algebra. His greatest contribution is perhaps the reformulation of Newtonian mechanics, now called Hamiltonian mechanics. This work has proven central to the modern study of classical field theories such as electromagnetism, and to the development of quantum mechanics. In mathematics, he is perhaps best known as the inventor of quaternions. ‹å: ˛°œåÆÍÆX 1õl˘!c˜&¢µHamiltonX⁄–⁄