Shakespeare and Saturn: Accounting for Appearances

267 Pages·2015·2.037 MB·English

by  Peter D. Usher

Usher_cpi_cb_AUS dd.qxd 3/6/2015 1:56 PM Page 1
A M E R I C A N U N I V E R S I T Y S T U D I E S
In the mid-sixteenth century, Copernicus asserted that the Earth was not the U
s
center of the universe as was generally believed, but that the sun lay there instead. h
e
The relegation of the Earth to the rank of an orbiting planet meant that r
humankind lost its privileged position as well, thus prompting re-evaluation
of all facets of human existence. This transformation in worldview gathered
S
momentum throughout Shakespeare’s writing career, yet his canon appears to h
lack reference to it. Peter D. Usher has studied Hamletand other Shakespearean a
k
plays and has uncovered a consistent pattern of reference to phenomena that
e
prove the correctness of the new worldview, including reference to the infinite s
p
universe of stars. These data could not have been known without telescopic aid,
e
which indicates that systematic telescopic study of celestial objects began a
r
before the generally accepted date of 1610. In Shakespeare and Saturn, Usher sum- e
marizes earlier results and shows that in All’s Well That Ends Well, Shakespeare a
takes account of the last supernova eruption of 1604 known to have occurred n
d
in the Milky Way galaxy. He shows further that in Much Ado About Nothingand

The Comedy of Errors Shakespeare makes observations concerning Saturn’s S
a
spectacular ring system that are remarkably accurate. t
u
r
n
Peter D. Usheris Emeritus Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics at The
Pennsylvania State University. He received his M.Sc. from the University of the
Free State in South Africa and his Ph.D. from Harvard. He is the author of
Hamlet’s Universeand Shakespeare and the Dawn of Modern Scienceand has pub-
lished more than one hundred papers in peer-reviewed journals. His research
accomplishments include the analytic derivation of the equations of invariant
imbedding, the discovery of the renormalized Poincaré-Lighthill perturbation
expansion, a generalization of the method of shoot and fit, and a survey of
medium-bright quasars. His papers on Shakespeare and science have appeared
in The Elizabethan Review, The Oxfordian, and The Shakespeare Newsletter.
x
ix
(cid:127) Shakespeare
4
1
and Saturn
P
E
T
ER Accounting for Appearances
L
A
A M E R I C A N N
G
U N I V E R S I T Y
www.peterlang.com S T U D I E S PETER D. USHER
Usher_cpi_cb_AUS dd.qxd 3/6/2015 1:56 PM Page 1
A M E R I C A N U N I V E R S I T Y S T U D I E S
In the mid-sixteenth century, Copernicus asserted that the Earth was not the
center of the universe as was generally believed, but that the sun lay there instead.
The relegation of the Earth to the rank of an orbiting planet meant that
humankind lost its privileged position as well, thus prompting re-evaluation
of all facets of human existence. This transformation in worldview gathered
momentum throughout Shakespeare’s writing career, yet his canon appears to
lack reference to it. Peter D. Usher has studied Hamletand other Shakespearean
plays and has uncovered a consistent pattern of reference to phenomena that
prove the correctness of the new worldview, including reference to the infinite
universe of stars. These data could not have been known without telescopic aid,
which indicates that systematic telescopic study of celestial objects began
before the generally accepted date of 1610. In Shakespeare and Saturn, Usher sum-
marizes earlier results and shows that in All’s Well That Ends Well, Shakespeare
takes account of the last supernova eruption of 1604 known to have occurred
in the Milky Way galaxy. He shows further that in Much Ado About Nothingand
The Comedy of Errors Shakespeare makes observations concerning Saturn’s
spectacular ring system that are remarkably accurate.
Peter D. Usheris Emeritus Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics at The
Pennsylvania State University. He received his M.Sc. from the University of the
Free State in South Africa and his Ph.D. from Harvard. He is the author of
Hamlet’s Universeand Shakespeare and the Dawn of Modern Scienceand has pub-
lished more than one hundred papers in peer-reviewed journals. His research
accomplishments include the analytic derivation of the equations of invariant
imbedding, the discovery of the renormalized Poincaré-Lighthill perturbation
expansion, a generalization of the method of shoot and fit, and a survey of
medium-bright quasars. His papers on Shakespeare and science have appeared
in The Elizabethan Review, The Oxfordian, and The Shakespeare Newsletter.
x
ix
(cid:127) Shakespeare
4
1
and Saturn
P
E
T
ER Accounting for Appearances
L
A
A M E R I C A N N
G
U N I V E R S I T Y
S T U D I E S PETER D. USHER
Shakespeare
and Saturn
SERIES XIX
GENERAL LITERATURE

VOL. 41

This book is a volume in a Peter Lang monograph series.
Every volume is peer reviewed and meets
the highest quality standards for content and production.

PETER LANG
New York  Bern  Frankfurt  Berlin
Brussels  Vienna  Oxford  Warsaw
PETER D. USHER

Shakespeare
and Saturn

ACCOUNTING FOR
APPEARANCES

PETER LANG
New York  Bern  Frankfurt  Berlin
Brussels  Vienna  Oxford  Warsaw
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Usher, Peter D.
Shakespeare and Saturn: accounting for appearances / Peter D. Usher.
pages cm. — (American University studies XIX: General literature; v. 41)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1.Shakespeare, William, 1564–1616—Criticism and interpretation.
2.Astronomy in literature. 3. Literature and science. I. Title.
PR3047.U84 822.3’3—dc23 2014033101
ISBN 978-1-4331-2860-8 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4539-1451-9 (e-book)
ISSN 0743-6645
Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek.
Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the “Deutsche
Nationalbibliografie”; detailed bibliographic data are available
on the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de/.
Cover image: Saturn imaged on March 28, 2005, by David Tyler,
Buckinghamshire, England. All rights reserved.
© 2015 Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., New York
29 Broadway, 18th floor, New York, NY 10006
www.peterlang.com
All rights reserved.
Reprint or reproduction, even partially, in all forms such as microfilm,
xerography, microfiche, microcard, and offset strictly prohibited.
For my son
Robert Wetherbee Usher

Some of them marveled at the magic mirror
That had been carried up to the main tower:
How could such things be seen in it? said they.
Another answered, that it might well be
That there was some quite natural explanation,
That the whole thing was done by combinations
Of angles, cunningly contrived reflections;
And said that there was one like it in Rome.
Vitello, Alhazen, and Aristotle
Were mentioned, for they wrote in their own day
Of curious mirrors and of optical
Perspective glasses, as all know who’ve heard
Their books read out.
Geoffrey Chaucer The Squire’s Tale c.1386