Shakespeare and science

摘要

Like the plots of William Shakespeare's plays, from The Merchant of Venice to Hamlet and Othello, Tudor science took its inspiration from abroad. However, its dramatis personae include few easy analogues of continental stars such as Nico-laus Copernicus, Johannes Kepler, Paracelsus or Galileo. England and Wales undoubtedly had scholars of international calibre, including the mathematician-astronomers John Dee, Thomas Digges and Thomas Harriot. Yet the expansion of its scientific horizons was driven as much by artisanal and mercantile interests as by university learning or royal patronage. Detailed globes, astronomical instruments and translations of French and Spanish navigational texts offered new tools for mastering both England's coastal waters and the ocean voyages required for intercontinental trade and exploration.