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 Hamlet and 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 summarizes 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 Nothing and The Comedy of Errors Shakespeare makes
observations concerning Saturn's spectacular ring system that are remarkably accurate.
