Paints in Transition

Smith, Philip H.

doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0435-192

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“…Also dust or other material from the places where A, C and D were stored should have been tested for m ercury. N one o f these precautions were taken and measurements on A, B, C, D were com pared with measurements on 'norm als' made by several other workers (13,42,45,46,47).…”

Section: A Nalysis Of Hairmentioning

confidence: 99%

Newton's Illness of 1692-3

1980

Notes Rec. R. Soc. Lond.

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Recent papers in this journal by Johnson and W olbarsht (1) and by Spargo and Pounds (2) suggest that, in the period 1692—3, N ew ton suffered from mercurialism (poisoning by mercury). The suggestion is interesting and the thoroughness with which a variety o f sources have been consulted must be appreciated. Nevertheless there are strong reasons for the more prosaic view that N ew ton suffered from a fairly common depressive illness entirely unconnected with his chemical experiments. These reasons are developed in this article. The grounds for supposing that N ew ton suffered from mercurialism can be arranged under three heads (i) the symptons of N ew ton’s illness in relation to the symptoms of mercurialism (ii) N ew ton’s exposure to mercury in his chemical experiments and in making mirrors, and (iii) the results of neutronactivation analysis of four hairs, believed to be from N ew ton. Let us now consider these in turn. The symptoms of Newton’s illness The evidence that Newton was ill in the period 1692—3 is mainly derived from the correspondence of N ew ton (3) though some biographers, who wrote before the correspondence was published, followed Biot (4) in asserting that Newton suffered ‘a derangement of the intellect’ in 1693. The letters which are considered to imply mental illness are:

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Section: A Nalysis Of Hairmentioning

confidence: 99%

Newton's Illness of 1692-3

1980

Notes Rec. R. Soc. Lond.

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Paints in Transition

Cited by 1 publication

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Newton's Illness of 1692-3

Newton's Illness of 1692-3

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