Quaternion

quaternions

The mathematical agon between Vectorists and advocates of quaternions forms a central thread in Pynchon's Against the Day.

He foreshadows this theme with single mention in the Counterforce section of GR:

"...Victorian kind of Brain War, as between quaternions and vector analysis in the 1880s --" (p.726)

--TheBopper 23:01, 27 June 2008 (PDT)