Numbers and Shakespeare: how mathematical breakthroughs influenced his plays
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In Shakespeare’s time people were used to the idea of the infinite: the planets, the sky, the seasons. But they were less attuned to opposite ideas such as very small or less and including zero, which can be expressed by mathematical axioms.
Mathematical motifs feature in many of Shakespeare’s most memorable scenes. He composed his immortal works at the end of the 16th century, when new mathematical concepts were changing perceptions of the world. Processing the cultural impact of all these changes was part of the theatre’s role. In Shakespeare’s time people were used to the idea of the infinite: the planets, the sky, the seasons. But they were less attuned to opposite ideas such as very small or less and including zero, which can be expressed by mathematical axioms.
In fact, the first recorded English use of the word “void” was not until 1598. Thinkers such as the 13th-century Italian mathematician Fibonacci helped bring the concept of zero – then known as a “cipher” – into the mainstream. But it was not until the philosopher René Descartes and the mathematicians Sir Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz developed calculus in the late 16th and early 17th centuries that “zero” came to prominence in society. Began to appear
Furthermore, the scientist Robert Hooke did not discover microorganisms until 1665, meaning that life could exist at the microscopic level was a matter of the imagination. With the growing influence of neoclassical thought in England, small, insignificant figures began to be used to represent much larger concepts. This was happening both in methods of calculation (in which ratios were used) and in the practice of writing down mathematical symbols. For example, during the 16th and early 17th centuries, the equals, multiplication, division, root, decimal, and inequality symbols were gradually introduced and standardized.
Along with this came the work of Christopher Clavius – a German astronomer who helped Pope Gregory XIII introduce the Gregorian calendar – and other mathematicians to introduce fractions, later referred to as “Broken Numbers”. This angered those who stuck to the classical model of number theory. The struggle to accept the entanglement of the too great and the too small is brilliantly demonstrated in many of Shakespeare’s works. These include his history drama Henry V and the tragedy Troilus and Cressida.
The opening chorus of Henry V demonstrates Shakespeare’s interest in proportion and the concept of zero through its repeated use of “o” and in the context of contemporary mathematical thought: scholars largely agree that This “crooked figure” of Shakespeare is actually zero. This is of course despite the obvious objection that zero is the least skewed of all numbers. Shakespeare refers to a 16th-century mathematical debate surrounding the idea that the very small is able to represent and influence the very large. In this case, zero is able to turn 100,000 into 1,000,000.
With 2023 marking 400 years since the publication of Shakespeare’s First Folio, it is exciting to see how his plays speak to important developments in the mathematical world of the 16th century. Shakespeare’s plays recorded the 16th-century crisis of classical mathematics in the face of new ideas. But they also gave viewers a chance to adjust to these new ideas and think about the world in a different way through the lens of mathematics.
Disclaimer:IndiaTheNews has not edited this news. This news has been published from PTI-language feed.
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