It's probably my mathematical background speaking, but I find this far from arbitrary. Quaternions don't spring from nothing. It seems to me that (xy)(yz)=x(yy)z=xz needs just as much justification and memorisation ... why should y^2=1?
I guess my point is this. If people put in as much effort to understand quaternions as has been expended in this article, then quaternions would probably be just as easy to grasp and the system being described.
It's probably my mathematical background speaking, but I find this far from arbitrary. Quaternions don't spring from nothing. It seems to me that (xy)(yz)=x(yy)z=xz needs just as much justification and memorisation ... why should y^2=1?
I guess my point is this. If people put in as much effort to understand quaternions as has been expended in this article, then quaternions would probably be just as easy to grasp and the system being described.