Historical recovery heroes – Isaac Newton
| Date | 15 August 2011 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/20428301111165708 |
| Pages | 122-128 |
| Published date | 15 August 2011 |
| Author | Elizabeth Wakely,Jerome Carson |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care |
Historical recovery heroes – Isaac Newton
Elizabeth Wakely and Jerome Carson
Abstract
Purpose – Isaac Newton has been described as the father of modern science. What is less well known
is that he had mental health problems. Here, the authors aim to review theliterature on his problems and
life to see if he was a mental health recovery hero.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviewed all the published papers on Newton’s mental
health problems, as well as many of the biographies written on him.
Findings – Scholars of Newton have focussed most of their attention on Newton’s breakdown of 1693.
This has been attributed to mercurialism or paranoid psychosis. The more likely explanation is
depression or bipolar disorder. Personality factors are also critical in understanding Newton; he had a
troubled upbringing and problems in relating to others. The latter enabled him to focus exclusively on his
research and experiments and may have contributed to his greatness.
Originality/value – The authors have brought to bear their insights as a professional historian and as a
clinical psychologist, giving this paper a unique perspective from previous uni-disciplinary reviews.
Keywords Isaac Newton, Recovery,Mercurialism, Depression, Bipolar disorder, Asperger’ssyndrome,
Mental illness
Paper type Viewpoint
Early life
The circumstances of Isaac Newton’s birth were less than auspicious, as he was born
prematurely and posthumously into a yeoman family in Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire on
Christmas Day 1642 but he, himself, later consideredthe date significant. His mother, Hannah,
remarried in 1646, when he was just three, and left her son in the care of his grandparents with
whom there is no recordof any affection; indeed his grandfather left him out of his will. In 1653,
after the death of her second husband, Hannah returned to him, but with three half-siblings in
tow. In 1654, Isaac was sent to King’s School, Grantham where he lodged with the local
apothecary,Mr Clark and his family. He was not particularly interested in the school’sclassical
curriculum, but spent a lot of time in the apothecary’s shop experimenting with chemicals –
which may have triggered his future interest in alchemy – and in building working models
(for example of a local windmill) – a trigger for his interest in mechanics. He did not get on with
other children but, after an encounter with a bully and winning the physical fight, decided to
prove his worth by achieving academically; learning Latin, although there was no maths or
science, was a bonus as it later enabled him to communicate with other European scholars.
However,in 1659, his mother decided to remove him from school to manage the family estate,
in which he showed not the slightest interest, and in 1660 Henry Stokes, headmaster of the
grammar school, persuaded her to send him back to school, at which the family servants
were delighted, saying that he was ‘‘fit for nothing but the ‘Versity’’’ (Stukeley, cited in
White, 1997, p. 46).
In 1661,Isaac duly went up to TrinityCollege, Cambridgeas a subsizar (the lowliestof students,
whose tasks included emptying the chamber pots of fellows) to study natural philosophy,
PAGE 122
j
MENTAL HEALTHAND SOCIAL INCLUSION
j
VOL. 15 NO. 3 2011, pp. 122-128, QEmerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 2042-8308 DOI 10.1108/20428301111165708
Elizabeth Wakely is a
Retired History Teacherand
Service User, London, UK.
Jerome Carson is a
Consultant Clinical
Psychologist at the South
London and Maudsley NHS
Foundation Trust,
London, UK.
The authors are grateful to
Paul Harrington for literature
searches and to Sheila Watson
for obtaining many of the
papers used in this review.
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