Balancing Newton's mind: his singular behaviour and his madness of 1692-93.

Newton grew up with a vulnerable and eccentric character besides having a low self-esteem, and he was someone who only uncommonly developed any close relationships. On review it is argued that his distrust and suspicions of others, and the fear that he might be harmed by criticism and his discoveries stolen, followed from his mother's separation from him in childhood and not, as has been claimed, from the developmental disorder of Asperger's syndrome. It is further firmly argued that his 'madness' of 1692 and 1693 was due to mercury poisoning from his alchemical experiments and not to clinical depression.

Sir Walter Langdon-Brown (1870-1946).

Sir Walter Langdon-Brown, born of robust Puritan stock, was a distinguished physician, teacher, medical historian and humanist at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, before becoming Regius Professor of Physics at Cambridge. His contributions to clinical medicine were wide in relating symptoms and signs of disease to physiology, putting therapeutics on a scientific basis, showing the close linkage of the sympathetic nervous system to the ductless glands, and being regarded as a founder of clinical endocrinology. He was the first English physician to relate the work of Freud, Jung and Adler to clinical medicine and a pioneer in psychosomatic medicine and the study of neurotic behaviour.

The portrait of Dr William Harvey in the Royal Society since 1683.

A portrait of William Harvey in the Royal Society since 1683 is a copy by an unknown artist after a portrait, now lost, painted by Sir Peter Lely ca. 1650. Three other unattributed copies besides a copy bought from Lely's studio on his death by the Earl of Bradford have been located.

The personality and health of King Henry VIII (1491-1547).

The projection of Henry VIII in the first half of his reign, which began in 1509, is of a magnificent and accomplished 'imperial prince', the possessor of superb physical health. In 1528, when aged 37, he showed a marked change in personality due, it is here argued, to depressive illness, from which he recovered by the mid-1530s. Such ill health has not been recognized previously and it engenders a need for a reassessment of his character and actions during these years of illness.

Nurse prescribing is a step forward for patient care.

It is vital that nurses move forward with Agenda for Change. Nurse prescribing in particular is a great leap in improving patient care.

Not all bad attitudes to mental health problems.

I read with interest the article 'Changing minds' (features June 20), which outlined many negative attitudes experienced by nurses with mental health problems.