Q

130; In mathematics, quaternions are a non-commutative extension of complex numbers. They were first described by the Irish mathematician Sir William Rowan Hamilton in 1843 and applied to mechanics in three-dimensional space. At first, quaternions were regarded as pathological, because they disobeyed the commutative law ab = ba. Although they have been superseded in most applications by vectors, they still find uses in both theoretical and applied mathematics, in particular for calculations involving three-dimensional rotations. James Clerk Maxwell first published his famous theory describing electricity and magnetism as a set of twenty equations, but he was later able to reformulate it as four equations using quaternions. Heaviside translated these into four vector equations, the form typically taught in basic physics classes today. Heaviside's vector version is compatible with Einstein's special relativity, but the quaternion form is not; 131; 156; 511; 525; Wars, 526, 548; 533-34; 538-39; Quaternionic Weapon, 542; 557; 564; 590; Wikipedia entry; Quaternions at MathWorld; Hamiltonian quaternions at PlanetMath; Finding the site of Hamilton's inspiration (by mathematical physicist John Baez); Conspiracy-theory takes on mathematical history [1] [2] (by Tom Bearden, promotor of a dubious free energy machine); Primer on quaternions and their history

Queen Anne's Gate
490; an office block in Westminster, London, overlooking St. James's Park. The building was originally built as speculative office development but the Home Office moved for lack of space in its previous headquarters in Whitehall; 496; Wikipedia entry

Querkel
45; detective at White City Investigations

Quethlock, Lady
822; Jacintha's guardian

Quetzal Dormido
990; cantina in Tapachula serving pox, the local moonshine

Q-weapon
"Quaternion-ray weapons" 445; "intelligence of a Quaternionic Weapon, a means to unloose upon the world energies hitherto unimagined — hidden ... 'innocently,' inside the w term." 542; "Unfamiliar with the Tesla system and alarmed by the strengths of the electric and magnetic fields, de Decker's people naturally conflated this with those recent rumors of a Quaternion weapon..." 549; "as if this mysterious Q-weapon were a common firearm and he hoping the seller would allow him a few courtesy shots [emphasis added]" 557; "alive in Woevre's hands" 563; "Kit found himself alone with the enigmatic object, back inside the leather case. He slung it nonchalantly by its strap over one shoulder" 564; technical details, 564-565; 784; Speculations on the Q-weapon and photography