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A scientific society, the Quaternion Society was an "International Association for Promoting the Study of Quaternions and Allied Systems of Mathematics". At its peak it consisted of about 60 mathematicians spread throughout the academic world that were experimenting with quaternions and other hypercomplex number systems. The guiding light was Alexander Macfarlane who served as its Secretary initially, and became President in 1909. The Association published a ''Bibliography'' in 1904 and a ''Bulletin'' (annual report) from 1900 to 1913. The ''Bulletin'' became a review journal for topics in vector analysis and abstract algebra such as the theory of equipollence. The mathematical work reviewed pertained largely to matrices and linear algebra as the methods were in rapid development at the time. ==Genesis== In 1895, Professor P. Molenbroek of The Hague, Holland, and Shinkichi Kimura studying at Yale put out a call for scholars to form the society in widely circulated journals: Nature, Science, and the Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society (see references). Giuseppe Peano also announced the society formation in his ''Rivista di Matematica''. The call to form an Association was encouraged by Macfarlane in 1896: :The logical harmony and unification of the whole of mathematical analysis ought to be kept in view. The algebra of space ought to include the algebra of the plane as a special case, just as the algebra of the plane includes the algebra of the line…When vector analysis is developed and presented...we may expect to see many zealous cultivators, many fruitful applications, and, finally, universal diffusion...May the movement initiated by Messrs. Molenbroek and Kimura hasten the realization of this happy result.〔A. Macfarlane (1896) (Quaternions ) Science (2) 3:99–100, link from Jstor early content〕 In 1897 the British Association met in Toronto where vector products were discussed: :Professor Henrici proposed a new notation to denote the different products of vectors, which consists in using square brackets for vector products and round brackets for scalar products. He likewise advocated adoption of Heaviside’s term "ort" for vector, the tensor of which is the number 1. Prof. A. Macfarlane read a communication on the solution of the cubic equation in which he explained how the two binomials in Cardano’s formula may be treated as complex quantities, either circular or hyperbolic, all the roots of the cubic can then be deduced by a general method.〔("Physics at the British Association" ) Nature 56:461,2 (# 1454)〕 A system of national secretaries was announced in the AMS Bulletin in 1899: Alexander MacAulay for Australasia, Victor Schlegel for Germany, Joly for Great Britain and Ireland, Giuseppe Peano for Italy, Kimura for Japan, Aleksandr Kotelnikov for Russia, F. Kraft for Switzerland, and Arthur Stafford Hathaway for the USA. For France the national secretary was Paul Genty, an engineer with the division of Ponts et Chaussees, and a quaternion collaborator with Charles-Ange Laisant, author of ''Methode des Quaterniones'' (1881). Victor Schlegel reported〔Victor Schlegel (1899) "Internationaler Verein zur Beförderung des Studiums der Quaternionen und verwandter Systeme der Mathematik", Monatshefte für Mathematik 10(1):376〕 on the new institution in the Monatshefte für Mathematik. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Quaternion Society」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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