William Rowan Hamilton, Michael Faraday, and the Revival of Boscovichean Atomism

Abstract

Although the contributions of Sir William Rowan Hamilton to mathematical physics are well known, the physical framework for some of his major endeavors has long been neglected. A philosophical idealist, Hamilton preferred to base his conception of physical reality upon “force” or “power” rather than “matter.” Hamilton was thus drawn to the atomism of Roger Boscovich who replaced hard atoms with point centers of force. Hamilton saw his mathematical contributions as the completion of the Boscovichean model, just as Lagrange, in some sense, completed the work of Newton. Hamilton agreed in his view of matter with Michael Faraday who likewise was drawn to Boscovichean atomism but who saw it mainly in the light of his electrical and chemical researches. Joseph Henry criticized Boscovichean atomism but really was criticizing Faraday's presentation, which omitted the concept of inertia.