Q

130; In mathematics, quaternions are a non-commutative extension of complex numbers. They were first described by the Irish mathematician Sir William Rowan Hamilton in 1843 and applied to mechanics in three-dimensional space. At first, quaternions were regarded as pathological, because they disobeyed the commutative law ab = ba. Although they have been superseded in most applications by vectors, they still find uses in both theoretical and applied mathematics, in particular for calculations involving three-dimensional rotations; 131; 156; Wikipedia entry; Excellent Article from Tom Bearden's Website; It wasn't really much of a debate! The vectorists simply steamrolled right over the remaining quaternionists, sweeping all opposition before them.

Querkel
45; detective at White City Investigations