Quaternions and Rotation Sequences

Primarily an exposition of the quaternion, a 4-tuple, and its primary application in a rotation operator, this text also presents the more conventional and familiar 3 x 3 (9-element) matrix rotation operator.

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Ever since the Irish mathematician William Rowan Hamilton introduced quaternions in the 19th century - a feat he celebrated by carving the founding equations into a stone bridge - mathematicians and engineers have been fascinated by these mathematical objects. They are used in applications as various as describing the geometry of space-time, guiding the Space Shuttle, and developing computer applications in virtual reality. In this book, J.B. Kuipers introduces quaternions for scientists and engineers who have not encountered them before and shows how they can be used in a variety of practical situations.