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- Thursday, September 24, 2015
- 3:40 PM–4:30 PM
- North Hall 276
Chris Moseley Ph.D. Professor of Mathematics and Statistics Calvin College
We are familiar with the idea of time as a fourth dimension, as in Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity. However, the first thorough mathematical exploration of the fourth dimension predates Einstein by 60 years! In this colloquium we will see how the mathematician William Hamilton "jumped... into a fourth dimension" (his words) as he discovered quaternions: 4-dimensional numbers that are used today in the control of spacecraft, quantum spin systems and the programming behind 3D graphics in computer games.
Refreshments precede the talk at 3:30pm in NH-282.
