Rob Eastaway: Shakespeare’s mathematical life and times

One thing we all have in common is that we did maths at school. Those of us from the English speaking world most likely also did Shakespeare at school. Do these two things have anything in common?

It turns out that they do! Our friend Rob Eastaway, author and Director of the amazing Maths Inspiration project, has written a book called Much Ado About Numbers: Shakespeare's mathematical life and times. In this episode of Maths on the Move, Rob tells us about some of the many instances of maths appearing in Shakespeare's work. He also tells us about the mathematical climate that Shakespeare lived in. Among other things, it included a mathematical revolution, saw music as a subfield of maths, and gave rise to the word "trivial" so much beloved by mathematicians. The book is out in paperback now.

 

To find out more about some of the topics mentioned in this episode, see the following links:

• The fabulous positional system is an article exploring the nature of our number system.
• Rob's Gresham College lecture explores some of the topics mentioned in this podcast and in his book.
• Maths Inspiration runs inspiring and interactive maths shows for teenagers.
• Finally, here are reviews of some of Rob's books:
  • The hidden mathematics of sport (with John Haigh)
  • Maths for mums and dads (with Mike Askew)
  • More maths for mums and dads (with Mike Askew)
  • How long is a piece of string? (with Jeremy Wyndham)
  • Mindbenders and brain teasers (with David Wells)
  • How to take a penalty (with John Haigh)
  • How many socks make a pair?