Much ado about numbers : Shakespeare's mathematical life and times / Rob Eastaway.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Eastaway, Robert, author.

Contributor:

Horace Howard Furness Memorial Library (University of Pennsylvania)

Horace Howard Furness Memorial Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616--Knowledge--Mathematics.

Shakespeare, William.

Mathematics--17th century.

Mathematics.

Mathematics--16th century.

Physical Description:

vii, 216 pages : illustrations, portraits ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

London : Allen & Unwin, an imprint of Atlantic Books, 2024.

Summary:

"What's the connection between Shakespeare and maths? A lot, as it turns out! Shakespeare grew up in a time of remarkable mathematical innovation. From astronomy to probability, music to multiplication, new mathematical ideas were taking off - and much of this was reflected in his work. In this highly engaging book, award-winning author Rob Eastaway explores the surprising and entertaining ways that maths and numbers crop up in Shakespeare's plays. Find out how Tudors multiplied, why Shakespeare never ended a line with the word orange, and why dice-playing was a serious hazard for the unwary. With historical asides about games, optics, astronomy, music and magic, you will never think about maths, history or Shakespeare the same way again"--Publisher's description.

Contents:

Prologue

1. Shakespearean numbers

2. School life

3. Sport and games

4. Money

5. Measure for measure

6. Music, rhythm and dance

7. Astronomy and astrology

8. Colours and the rainbow

9. Putting ink to paper

10. Mathematics, magic and witchcraft

11. Codes and conspiracy

Appendix: Mathematical asides

A Shakespeare/Historic event timeline

Timeline of Shakespeare's plays and poems

Bibliography

Acknowledgements

Picture credits

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 201-202) and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Horace Howard Furness Memorial Fund.

ISBN:

1805460277

9781805460275

OCLC:

1398569568