Quaternions and rotation sequences

the long version

"Ever since the Irish mathematician William Rowan Hamilton introduced quaternions in the nineteenth century - a feat he celebrated by carving the founding equations into a stone bridge - mathematicians and engineers have been fascinated by these mathematical objects. Today, they are used in applications as various as describing the geometry of spacetime, guiding the Space Shuttle, and developing computer applications for virtual reality. In this book, Jack 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."--BOOK JACKET.