Much Ado About Numbers

"e;A spectacular journey... Highly recommended!"e; Dr Simon Smith, The Shakespeare Institute "e;A fascinating and hugely entertaining guide to Shakespearean mathematics."e; Prof Sarah Hart, author of Once Upon A Prime"e;A playful and engaging book ... bound to excite the appetite of all Shakespeare junkies."e; 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.