This insightful and painstakingly researched biography details the intriguing life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton, the nineteenth-century mathematician who changed the course of modern algebra with his discovery of quaternions in 1843. Although Hamilton's work was largely theoretical, his theories and innovations came to have invaluable practical applications with the advent of quantum mechanics in the twentieth century. In addition to analyzing the major contributions Hamilton made to the fields of mathematics and theoretical physics, Thomas L. Hankins investigates all facets of Hamilton's life to draw a complete picture of a man passionate about literature and classical scholarship, a man whose religious beliefs and strong convictions guided him in everything he did.