Many Shakespeare fans don't think of themselves as "math people." They're theater kids, poetry lovers, bookworms, right? But in Shakespeare's world, math and literature were deeply intertwined. In Much Ado About Numbers: Shakespeare's Mathematical Life and Times, mathematician Rob Eastaway explores how mathematical thinking shaped Shakespeare's language and imagination.

Shakespeare lived at a moment of major intellectual change, when England was newly encountering Indo-Arabic numerals, experimenting with new systems of calculation, and redefining ideas of measure and proportion. Eastaway shows how Shakespeare delighted in numbers and patterns, playing with "scores," fractions, and symmetry in works like Othello, Henry V, Romeo and Juliet, and The Winter's Tale. Even familiar references to "nothing," time, and music take on new meaning when viewed through a mathematical lens.

In this episode, Eastaway reveals how math was woven into everyday life in Shakespeare's time and how reading with our "math glasses" on can offer fresh insights into Shakespeare's language.

From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast. Published January 27, 2025. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved.
This episode was produced by Matt Frassica, with Garland Scott serving as executive producer. It was edited by Gail Kern Paster. Technical support was provided by London Broadcast Studio and Voice Trax West in Studio City, California. Web production was handled by Paola García Acuña. Transcripts are edited by Leonor Fernandez. Final mixing services were provided by Clean Cuts at Three Seas, Inc.

Rob Eastaway has authored and coauthored several bestselling books that connect math with everyday life, including Why Do Buses Come in Threes? and How Many Socks Make a Pair? He is the director of Maths Inspiration, an interactive lecture program that has reached over 250,000 teenagers in the United Kingdom, New York, and Sydney. In 2017, he received the Zeeman Medal for excellence in the public communication of mathematics, and in 2025, he delivered the BSHM Gresham College Lecture on the subject of Shakespeare and mathematics. He lives in London.