15 Facts About Alexander Macfarlane

Alexander Macfarlane FRSE LLD was a Scottish logician, physicist, and mathematician.

In 1878 Alexander Macfarlane spoke at the Royal Society of Edinburgh on algebraic logic as introduced by George Boole.

Alexander Macfarlane was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Alexander Macfarlane's proposers were Peter Guthrie Tait, Philip Kelland, Alexander Crum Brown, and John Hutton Balfour.

Alexander Macfarlane taught at the universities of Edinburgh and St Andrews, was physics professor at the University of Texas, professor of Advanced Electricity, and later of mathematical physics, at Lehigh University.

In 1896 Alexander Macfarlane encouraged the association of quaternion students to promote the algebra.

Alexander Macfarlane became the Secretary of the Quaternion Society, and in 1909 its president.

Alexander Macfarlane edited the Bibliography of Quaternions that the Society published in 1904.

Alexander Macfarlane was the author of a popular 1916 collection of mathematical biographies, a similar work on physicists.

Alexander Macfarlane originated an Algebra of Physics, which was his adaptation of quaternions to physical science.

Alexander Macfarlane actively participated in several International Congresses of Mathematicians including the primordial meeting in Chicago, 1893, and the Paris meeting of 1900 where he spoke on "Application of space analysis to curvilinear coordinates".

Alexander Macfarlane retired to Chatham, Ontario, where he died in 1913.

Similar to Homersham Cox, Alexander Macfarlane uses the hyperbolic versor as the hyperbolic quaternion corresponding to the versor of Hamilton.

Alexander Macfarlane reached this idea or ratios of areas while considering the basis for hyperbolic angle which is analogously defined.

In 1900 Alexander Macfarlane published "Hyperbolic Quaternions" with the Royal Society in Edinburgh, and included a sheet of nine figures, two of which display conjugate hyperbolas.