Press release:Did Shakespeare think of a number?

26 Sep 2024

Gresham College to explore the Bard’s equations in free lecture

Mathematical genius Rob Eastaway to give the lecture on Wednesday, 9 October, online and in central London 

We all know that Elizabethan playwright William Shakespeare had a way with words, but what about numbers? 

We know the Bard lived in a time of exciting innovations, from arithmetic to astronomy, probability to music. Many feature or are hinted at in his plays.  

A new lecture from Gresham College will see Professor Rob Eastaway explore how mathematical ideas connect with Shakespeare, and how he could be just as creative with numbers and words.  

They include lines in Othello about the number of hours in a week, which the Bard gets a character to break down into a sum, rather than a total.  

Professor Eastaway said: “I’m revealing the surprising ways in which the mathematical ideas around Shakespeare, and how he was creative with numbers. 

“He was clearly very numerous and living in a world with lots of new creative developments in maths, mathematical sciences, music, astronomy. The Bard was clearly aware of some of these, as they seep into his work.  

“It’s practical everyday maths, like measurements and money, but also abstract intellectual ideas of chance and measuring the skies, and navigation.  

“We will show the connections between the different worlds and how Elizabethan London was like a giant soup where everything was being stirred together, and Shakespeare was right at the centre of it.” 

The lecture, which Professor Eastaway says will reveal some surprising new mathematical insights into the Elizabethan world, including music, astronomy, measurements, everyday use of numbers and the numbers themselves.  

What can we learn from William Shakespeare about Renaissance life, pocket sundials and Jupiter’s moons?  

Professor Eastaway’s free lecture will give some previously unexplored answers, including how we know Shakespeare was a left-wing writer (his quills were taken from a goose’s left wing, not its right wing). 

“We know Shakespeare was brilliant with words and portraying the world around him, but perhaps scholars have never really thought about his other skills, in particularly numeracy” Professor Eastaway continued.  

“He plays with numbers in the way you see modern people do.” 

It is co-organised between Gresham College and the British Society for the History of Mathematics and complements themes of his latest book, Much Ado About Numbers, which has just been published by The Experiment Publishing (US) and Atlantic Books (UK).  

The Gresham College lecture has been held since the year 2000 and given by many distinguished historians of mathematics.  

Gresham College is London’s oldest higher education institution, and is a contemporary of the Bard, who wrote much of his work between 1589 and 1613.  

Founded in 1597 under the will of Sir Thomas Gresham, Gresham College has been delivering free public lectures for over 427 years from a lineage of leading professors and experts in their field who have included Christopher Wren, Robert Hooke, Iannis Xenakis and Sir Roger Penrose.  

The lecture will be given at Barnard's Inn Hall, Holborn, London EC1N 2HH on Wednesday, 9 October. 

Starting at 6pm, entry is free, and it is also broadcast live online. It will last an hour.  

In-person places can be booked online via Gresham College’s website.

ENDS 

Notes to Editors 

Pictures available on request 

Professor Eastaway is happy to take part in radio and podcast interviews and will also give in-depth print interviews.  

For more information about this story or to arrange an interview with a Gresham Professor please contact: Phil Creighton press@gresham.ac.uk  

About Gresham College 
Gresham College has been providing free, educational lectures - at the university level - since 1597 when Sir Thomas Gresham founded the college to bring Renaissance Learning to Londoners. Our history includes some of the luminaries of the scientific revolution including Robert Hooke and Sir Christopher Wren and connects us to the founding of the Royal Society. 

Today we carry on Sir Thomas's vision. The College aims to stimulate intellectual curiosity and to champion academic rigour, professional expertise and freedom of expression. 

Gresham College is a registered charity number 1039962 and relies on donations to help us encourage people's love of learning for many years to come. For more details or to make a gift, visit our website.  

About The Annual BSHM Gresham College Lectures
Since 2000 the British Society for the History of Mathematics has co-organised a prestigious annual lecture with Gresham College, London. 

Previous BSHM-Gresham College Lecturers include many distinguished historians of mathematics.  

The BSHM-Gresham Lecture is traditionally preceded by a reception at which Rhenish wine and macaroons are served, in honour of the refreshments served to the Royal Society on its return to Gresham College in 1673 after the disruption of the Great Fire of London.