The Science of Shakespeare

"Dan Falk is the finest science writer working today. This fabulous book will give equal joy to fans of the Bard and to history-of-science buffs. Note to Horatio: Read this -- it'll bring you up to speed." —Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award-winning author of Red Planet Blues

"There is science in everything, even the works of the immortal Bard. Dan Falk's rich and fascinating book brings to light the many ways in which Shakespeare and science influenced each other, from telescopes to blood-letting. A great read for anyone who enjoys words and ideas." —Sean Carroll, physicist and author of The Particle at the End of the Universe

"Dan Falk’s book provides perhaps the best guide to the scientific worldview prevailing in the Elizabethan Age. We learn, for example, about what Giordano Bruno did while in England, about Thomas Harriot’s telescopic view of the Moon’s surface drawn some months before Galileo’s, and of the appearance of atoms in several of Shakespeare’s plays… Falk’s narrative voice is smooth, reasonable, likable." —Phillip F. Schewe, author of Maverick Genius

"Dan Falk has written another splendid book. After Universe on a T-shirt and In Search of Time, he moves back four centuries to the science of Shakespeare’s day.... Falk sheds enormous light on the Elizabethan outlook and particular puzzles in the plays, all the while entertaining us in a most engaging way." —James Robert Brown, author of The Laboratory of the Mind

"In this thought-provoking book, Dan Falk explores the intriguing connections between the Bard's writings and the dramatic scientific discoveries of the late Renaissance, introducing us to a fascinating cast of characters along the way. A great read." —Ray Jayawardhana, astrophysicist and author of Strange New Worlds and Neutrino Hunters

"A highly entertaining and informative book… Falk has done his homework. He offers something learned but at the same time keeps it personal and unpretentious." —Dennis Richard Danielson, Professor of English, University of British Columbia, and author of The Book of The Cosmos

"Readers will thank Falk for putting Shakespeare and Galileo on the same well-illuminated world stage." —Booklist

"This eminently readable book should prove fascinating to both lovers of science and bardolators." —Library Journal

Praise for In Search of Time:

"What Hawking's [A Brief History of Time] should have been." —Ottawa Citizen

“Falk seamlessly combines science with literary and philosophical observations… and digresses to fascinating topics like root notions of past and future, the vagaries of memory, and the behavior of birds at breakfast time.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Time is a big subject and Falk is up to the task.” —The Globe and Mail

"In this thoroughly readable, broad-sweeping, and thought-provoking book, Falk surveys humanity's attempts to record and understand time, and poses some fascinating questions." —New Scientist magazine

"Falk displays a deft touch with both temporal history and experimentation." —Toronto Star

“Accessible and Entertaining.” —Financial Times

“Falk is a great writer.” —BBC Focus

"Dan Falk is a riveting writer: his latest book is almost unputdownable." —Martin J. Rees, author of Just Six Numbers and Our Final Hour

“An engaging writer who fearlessly tackles potentially brain-freezing topics.” —San Francisco Chronicle

“[Falk] selects, organizes and interprets a mass of lore for our enlightenment and pleasure. We owe him.” —Scientific American

Praise for Universe on a T-Shirt:

"A highly accessible introduction to some tough and important physics." —American Scientist

"Crisply written, well-researched." —Sky & Telegraph

"[Falk] has a wonderful gift for finding helpful analogies and for writing about science in a way that is accessible without sounding dumbed down." —Booklist

"Falk endorses the idea that the best hope for a so-called theory of everything is in string theory, a difficult area of sicence that Falk nevertheless deftly unravels for the uninitiated." —Science News

We'd love to hear what you think. Please email John at john.nicholas@stmartins.com with any feedback.