The Shakespeare Algorithm
In 1727, a writer and editor named Lewis Theobald was preparing to unveil "Double Falsehood," a tragicomedy that he said was based on manuscripts of a lost play by Shakespeare. "The good old Master of the English Drama is by a kind of Miracle recall'd from his Grave, and given to us once again," the London Journal reported, when news of Theobald's project emerged. Ever since then, however, the work has presented diff…