Classical Vector Algebra became the "gold standard" because it was practical. It allowed us to build bridges, fly planes, and understand electricity without the overhead of 4D hyper-complex numbers.
By the late 19th century, scientists were frustrated. had written his famous equations for electromagnetism using quaternions, but they were so dense that almost no one could solve them.
Enter two rebels: (an American) and Oliver Heaviside (an Englishman). Independently, they decided to "vandalize" Hamilton’s work. They took the quaternion, chopped off the "real" part ( ), and focused only on the components.
Classical Vector Algebra became the "gold standard" because it was practical. It allowed us to build bridges, fly planes, and understand electricity without the overhead of 4D hyper-complex numbers.
By the late 19th century, scientists were frustrated. had written his famous equations for electromagnetism using quaternions, but they were so dense that almost no one could solve them.
Enter two rebels: (an American) and Oliver Heaviside (an Englishman). Independently, they decided to "vandalize" Hamilton’s work. They took the quaternion, chopped off the "real" part ( ), and focused only on the components.