Shakespearean scholar and Harvard professor Stephen Greenblatt is widely acclaimed as the father of New Historicism, which concentrates on understanding works of literature within their historical and social contexts.The Swerve: How the World Became Modern describes how the discovery of an ancient Roman philosophical epic­ —On the Nature of Things by Lucretius—inspired artists, writers, and thinkers On the Nature of Things is a beautiful poem of dangerous ideas: that the universe functioned without godly interference, that religious fear of death was damaging to human life, and that matter—including the human body—was made up of atoms in eternal motion. Greenblatt is the author of nine books, including the New York Times bestseller Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare.