Much Ado About Numbers

“A spectacular journey… Highly recommended!” Dr Simon Smith, The Shakespeare Institute “A fascinating and hugely entertaining guide to Shakespearean mathematics.” Prof Sarah Hart, author of Once Upon A Prime“A playful and engaging book … bound to excite the appetite of all Shakespeare junkies.” Patrick Spottiswoode, Founder, Shakespeare’s Globe Education’Instead of cleaving maths and English in twain, Eastaway brings them together to surprise and delight the reader.’ Dr Rebecca Fisher, The English Association A fascinating new take on the world of Shakespeare.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.

Author Biography

Rob Eastaway is an author, speaker and mathematician whose books include the bestselling Maths on The Back of An Envelope and Why Do Buses Come In Threes?. He is regularly to be heard on BBC Radio talking about the maths of everyday life, and has appeared numerous times on the popular programme More Or Less. He has given talks across the world for almost every age group, at venues ranging from The Royal Institution in London to the Mercantile Bar in Dublin. Like everyone else, he had to study Shakespeare at school, but it took a visit to Stratford-upon-Avon to revive his interest.