Shakespeare's Identity `Is in the Stars'

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SHAKESPEARE WAS not just a playwright - he was an astronomer, according to a new theory that raises questions about the exact identity of the most famous name in British literature.

According to a fresh scientific analysis of his works, Shakespeare may actually have been Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford, who lived from 1550 to 1604, rather than the younger actor W. Shakspere, who lived from 1564 to 1616.

A paper published in the online magazine PhysicsWeb by Eric Altschuler, of the University of California at San Diego, points out that the Bard's plays contain numerous references to astronomical events. Besides the "star-cross'd lovers" of Romeo and …