My Shakespeare Year: The Science of Shakespeare: A New Look at the Playwright's Universe, by Dan Falk

The Science of Shakespeare isn't so much about scientific principles or even about William Shakespeare as a person. It's all about context. What did the world look like at the time of Galileo, not to the philosophers and the astronomers but to the artists and the populace? Shakespeare's plays are full of references to the body, the natural world and the cosmos, but they were written at a time when our modern understanding of medicine, biology, and the universe was just beginning to unfold.

"If you're a Shakespeare nerd AND a science nerd AND a history of science nerd, this book is perfect for you," Dan Falk said at a recent library event in my city (I'm paraphrasing just a little). "But that's probably a pretty narrow audience." Maybe, but I'm definitely in that group!

There are few things I love more than being able to put familiar things--whether it's famous art, literature, fashion or even food--into historical context. I love learning the connections between things, how the writers I love were influenced by the politics of their day, or how the fashions of a certain era reflected the changing attitudes of the people at the time. So Dan Falk's new book, The Science of Shakespeare, is kind of perfect for me.

"Shakespeare lived in a time--at the end of the 16th century, beginning of the 17th century--when science as we think of it today simply didn't exist... He wasn't a modern thinker; he wasn't a medieval. I guess he was somewhere in between. Perhaps that is part of the appeal of Shakespeare, that he came at a time when the world was changing."
--Dan Falk
(at an author reading in Dartmouth, NS, April 15, 2014)

The science, history AND Shakespeare nerd in me loved this book, not because it explained scientific principles (well maybe a little) or uncovered hidden truths about Shakespeare as a person (again, maybe a little), but for the way it shed light on the world at that time. Shakespeare wrote plays that he wanted his audience to be able to understand. If he referenced the Roman gods in one play and "Mars in retrograde" in another, it's because he was confident his audience would get it. So by examining Shakespeare's plays, we can get a glimpse into the worldview of his audience at a fascinating time in the history of scientific discovery.

Hit the jump to learn more about the book and see pictures of me and Dan Falk...

BOOK DETAILS:

Cover of the Canadian edition

The Science of Shakespeare:
A New Look at the Playwright's Universe
Author: Dan Falk
Publisher: St. Martin's Press/Thomas Dunne Books (GooseLane editions in Canada)
Publication Date: April 22, 2014 (April 15, 2014 in Canada)
Source: NetGalley
View on Amazon.com
View on Amazon.ca

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Dan Falk is a science writer who lives in Toronto, Canada, but he grew up in Nova Scotia (like me!). Here I am with him at an author reading at Alderney Gate Public Library in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, on April 17, 2014: