Maths on the Move

Rob Eastaway: Shakespeare's mathematical life and times


Listen Later

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?
    • ...more
      View all episodesView all episodes
      Download on the App Store

      Maths on the MoveBy plus.maths.org

      • 4.6
      • 4.6
      • 4.6
      • 4.6
      • 4.6

      4.6

      7 ratings


      More shows like Maths on the Move

      View all
      Nature Podcast by Springer Nature Limited

      Nature Podcast

      763 Listeners

      Science Weekly by The Guardian

      Science Weekly

      415 Listeners

      More or Less: Behind the Stats by BBC Radio 4

      More or Less: Behind the Stats

      895 Listeners

      The Life Scientific by BBC Radio 4

      The Life Scientific

      239 Listeners

      No Such Thing As A Fish by No Such Thing As A Fish

      No Such Thing As A Fish

      4,841 Listeners

      The Quanta Podcast by Quanta Magazine

      The Quanta Podcast

      483 Listeners

      THE ADAM BUXTON PODCAST by ADAM BUXTON

      THE ADAM BUXTON PODCAST

      1,334 Listeners

      Curious Cases by BBC Radio 4

      Curious Cases

      818 Listeners

      Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas by Sean Carroll | Wondery

      Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas

      4,127 Listeners

      Google DeepMind: The Podcast by Hannah Fry

      Google DeepMind: The Podcast

      199 Listeners

      Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford by Pushkin Industries

      Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford

      5,093 Listeners

      The Rest Is History by Goalhanger

      The Rest Is History

      12,630 Listeners

      The Joy of Why by Steven Strogatz, Janna Levin and Quanta Magazine

      The Joy of Why

      495 Listeners

      The Rest Is Politics by Goalhanger

      The Rest Is Politics

      3,070 Listeners

      The Rest Is Classified by Goalhanger

      The Rest Is Classified

      897 Listeners