The Science of Shakespeare

Dan Falk, award-winning author of The Science of Shakespeare: A New Look at the Playwright’s Universe, joins Dr. Eric Dorfman, President of the Linda Hall Library in Kansas City, for a lively conversation on the connections between the famous playwright and the beginnings of the Scientific Revolution—and how, together, they changed the world forever.

William Shakespeare lived at a remarkable time―a period we now recognize as the first phase of the Scientific Revolution. New ideas were transforming Western thought, the medieval was giving way to the modern, and the work of a few key figures hinted at the brave new world to come: the methodical and rational Galileo, the skeptical Montaigne, and―as Falk convincingly argues―Shakespeare, who observed human nature just as intently as the astronomers who studied the night sky.

ESU members and Friends of ESU who are not in the Kansas City area are invited to attend this fascinating free lecture virtually.

When: Thursday, March 26, 2026, at 6:00 PM MT

Virtual Lecture: If you plan to watch this program virtually via Zoom, you may register now. Please click here to register for the virtual program.

About Dan Falk

Dan Falk is a journalist and author with a particular interest in science, especially physics and astronomy. His freelance writing credits include Smithsonian, New Scientist, Scientific American, Astronomy, and many other publications. The Science of Shakespeare is his third book; his two previous books are In Search of Time and Universe on a T-Shirt.

The Toronto native is a regular contributor to Canadian public radio, and he has won several international awards for his radio documentaries. He also hosts a podcast called BookLab, which reviews popular science books. Falk was a 2011-12 Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT.

About Eric Dorfman, PhD

Dr. Dorfman is the President of Linda Hall Library. He is the author of several popular books on New Zealand natural history and climate change, as well as scholarly papers on museum education, public programming, Egyptology, and the ecology of wetland birds. His most recent book, The Future of Natural History Museums, is currently being translated into Chinese and Japanese. He earned a doctorate at the University of Sydney on scale-dependent habitat use of waterbirds in eastern and central Australia. Prior to his current position, Dr. Dorfman was CEO of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and a Research Professor at North Carolina State University.